Friday, October 30, 2009

Lymelife



"Lymelife" is a coming-of-age story in the most discomforting sense, a portrayal of one young person having their trust broken down, then being assigned with the even more difficult task of moving on. It is the second indie dealing with crippling dysfunction and featuring the two younger Culkin brothers, after "Igby Goes Down," but that is where the similarities end.

While "Igby" deals with alienation and fractured family dynamics in an snarky, self-satisfied way (think "Juno" with a nasty streak,) Lymelife's situations come out more naturally- there a fewer smirks and and less sarcastic one-liners. In this, youngest Culkin Rory is the center of attention, and evokes a viewer's sympathy as Scott Bartlett, a sensitive, naive, and hormonally charged teen living in 70's Long Island.

Scott lives with his mom Marilyn (Jill Hennessy) and Dad Mick (Alec Baldwin,) a real-estate developer. Soon his older brother Jimmy comes back from military school, enthralling him with stories of handguns and grenades. Scott starts out with usual problems- avoiding the school bully and crushing on neighboring girl Adriana (Emma Roberts,) who is pretty but entirely involved in a game of hard-to-get with the meek Scott.

But Adriana has her own set of problems. Her father Charlie (Timothy Hutton) appears to have contracted Lyme Disease, causing periods of listless exhaustion and erratic behavior. Her second one is ironically enough, involve the Bartletts as well. While Scott remains happily blind to the family's entanglements, both Jimmy and Adriana bear the realization of the fact that Adriana's Mom, and Mick, who are real estate partners, have been crossing barriers of the platonic relationship for a long time.

Finally she tells Scott as bluntly as possible (which I will not tire you mentioning here,) forcing it to sink in. When it comes, it hardly surprises him. Now he understands the projection of paranoia from his mom's own suspensions (culminating in packing layers of tape on her children's sleeves to prevent a tick attack,) and his brother's dry, bitter cynicism.

"Lymelife," however, does not drop at this realization, but follows Scott as the pressure alters his perception on life and as his relationship with Adriana evolves, set in the backdrop of his parent's inevitable falling-out.

No doubt about it... the younger Culkin carries the movie. Whether being stringed along by Adriana or reacting to Mick's explosive temper, Scott's portrayal asks for the viewers care in the situation, as unoriginal as it may be. Hutton, too, portrays Charlie's fading sanity disturbingly, conveying with limited expressions the feeling of psychological stability being stretched to breaking point.

Hennessy, as the Culkin's mother, successfully pulls off a combination of neurosis and sympathy, but Keiren seems a side note, not terribly developed beyond a tense, telling scene with Mick and proof of his vicious temper (beating Scott's tormenter to a pulp.)

"Lymelife" finds atmosphere in banality, and invokes good performances by the main players. The problem remains, though- do we really need another coming of age/ family discord indie? The director, Derek Martini, must of known this... and something brilliant may have hatched from his efforts if he's put his acting, sensitivity, and characters into a vitally new situation. But we're left with a suburban dysfunction drama, more relatable than "The Squid and the Whale," with a careful realism and performances. That, I suppose, is enough. (Rated R)

Note: Beware the ending, not nearly as infuriating as the loose ends of "The Tracey Fragments" (Why did I sit through this?!) but not clever enough to restrain my natural indignation of a gimmick.
















Thursday, October 15, 2009

Zombieland



The world of "Zombieland" is desolate and filthy, yet still amazingly funny. It caters to Black Comedy number #1- fill the movie wih grime and gore, but keep it distanced from reality to keep the viewers from getting too uncomfortable. It's like Cillian-less 28 Days Later without the rape, if Danny Boyle had been going for funny instead of disturbing.

The characters of this film have given up on name, it appears, as they are known chiefly as their hometown. The hero, Columbus, is played by Jesse Eisenberg, a young actor best known as the non-masturbating older brother in Noah Bambach's "The Squid and the Whale."

Columbus opens the film with a deadpan narration, saying that his country can no longer be considered America, because "something needs living people to be a country, and everyone here is dead." Seemingly literal, as the only people we come into contact with for the first ten minutes at present time besides Eisenberg are raging, brutal corpses.

There is a set of rules, Columbus says, for one to stay alive in the area, to avoid becoming a 'human happy meal.'. The viewer is shown bloody clips of potential survivors who broke these. Fasten your seat belt. Don't be fat and out-of-shape. Pay attention to where you are, and where the undead are. Finally, don't get close.

Having lived in isolation before the virus, he is to some extent used to being alone. He also seemed a prime candidate for obsessive-compulsive disorder, carefully staying away from his fears before there was really anything to be afraid of. His encounters with the apocalypse begin in a flashback, when he allows an attractive girl who has been attacked to take refuge, and she tries to eat him.

In the present day, he decides to head to his home town looking for any surviving family. On the way, he is surprised to find another survivor. This is Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson,) a macho guy who's made it his goal to kill every zombie he can get his hands on.

His other goal drives him to raid Hostess trucks by the side of the role, desperate of a Twinkie- a scrap of normalcy in a life that's gone of the deep end. They join up, though Tallahassee's on a revenge kick and Columbus would just as soon keep as far away from the undead as possible.

The rest of "Zombieland"'s short duration revolves around the duo's cross-country trek to find an apparently safe haven when Columbus family plan goes through the roof. The are accompanied by two at first innocent-seeming sisters who have a knack for getting the best on any situation (Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone, who wears eye make-up incredibly unblemished by zombie attacks.)

Woody Harrelson fits comfortably into his subtly sensitive character, while Jesse Eisenberg takes his role as the droll, paranoid Columbus completely straight, installing with the character's seriousness an almost gravity into the ridiculous plot.

The best thing about "Zombieland" is that the director, with all his fervor making the most disgusting zombies imaginable, doesn't forget to add an interesting feel for it's living protagonists. In fact, Tallahasee and particularly Columbus are cleverly conceived, though it seems the female's characters are skimmed over somewhat.

Along with the wit, though, is the very common tough girl and sensitive guy tension, which wasn't original 28 Days Later, let alone this one. It seems that people are still feeding the feminist issue, and find aggression in girls almost endearing.

I suppose that I wasn't expecting how short "Zombieland" was, but all the same I found the ending somewhat abrupt. It's the kind of conclusion that seems awkwardly unfinished, and leaves you saying "is that all there is?" to a black screen.

All the same, I left the theater amused and happy, and appreciated an enjoyable movie that just seemed a little too clipped. It may not be the first zombie-themed comedy of late, but it deserves it's place next to "Shaun of the Dead" as an entertaining, witty comedy in horror's clothing (Rated R.)











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