Lymelife

LYMELIFE, a bright story about the dark side of suburban paradise and the loss of innocence centers on two deeply troubled, dysfunctional families during the late 1970s. The film revolves around an awkward, sensitive 15-year old boy, Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin), whose family life is turned upside-down after an outbreak of Lyme disease hits the community spreading illness and paranoia.

Scott’s parents—a workaholic father, Mickey (Alec Baldwin) and an overprotective mother, Brenda (Jill Hennessy) –are on the verge of a divorce as his older brother Jimmy (Kieran Culkin) is about to ship off for war.

Complicating matters, Scott has fallen in love with his next door neighbor, Adrianna Bragg (Emma Roberts). Adrianna seems to be the only person in the world who understands Scott, demonstrated by her equally troubled, less affluent family including an uptight mother, Melissa (Cynthia Nixon), carrying on a not-so-clandestine love affair, and a father Charlie (Timothy Hutton), who is slowly slipping away from the effects of Lyme disease.

At turns both unexpectedly funny and deeply moving, “LYMELIFE” looks at first love and family dynamics during a time of drastic economic and cultural change. “LYMELIFE”, which opens in April 2009, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival where it received the coveted International Critics Award.

“A terrifically cast bittersweet coming-of-age story -- ticks and all.” (Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter)

“Startling performances, searing dialogue and an archaeologist's sense of late '70s period detail power the violently funny Lymelife.” (Rob Nelson, Variety)

“Lymelife keeps you hooked, mostly through Mr. Hutton, Mr. Baldwin and Kieran Culkin as Scott’s older brother, Jimmy. (The Culkins are also brothers.) Mr. Baldwin makes playing jerks look easy, but what’s consistently wonderful about this actor is how he always uncovers something unexpected even in overworked terrain. That’s certainly the case in an unnerving scene that finds Mickey baiting Jimmy, egging him on until the son does exactly what Mickey wants and hits his father. Nothing in the film, including the images of a model development filled with tiny plastic people and tiny plastic houses, speaks to the hurt that can come with love as eloquently as the rage that fills — and empties — the faces of these men.” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times)

LYMELIFE stars Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe winner, Emmy Award winner, SAG Award winner Alec Baldwin (30 Rock, The Cooler), Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City), Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People), SAG Award winner Jill Hennessy (Law and Order), and a trio of young stars: Kieran Culkin (Igby Goes Down), Rory Culkin (You Can Count On Me, Signs) and Emma Roberts (Hotel for Dogs). Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese and Leonard Loventhal are the executive producers. Baldwin also served as producer along with Jon Cornick, Barbara De Fina, Michele Tayler and Angela Somerville.

2008 Toronto Film Festival- International Critics Award Winner