Review of Lymelife (2008) by Alex S — 06 Apr 2009

I was excited to see Lymelife last night at the Philadelphia Film Festival. After all, it had some major names attached to it, and promised some great Seventies music and styling. And I grew up during the Seventies. AND I had Lyme Disease. So it seemed like a good choice for me.

I always enjoy seeing the sights and sounds of the day integrated into a film. Lymelife was styled well, and accurately. (A Lysol spray can with the original package design from that time was especially impressive.).

However, I couldn't help but feel like I liked this movie better the first time I saw it, when it was called American Beauty. Swap Kevin Spacey's midlife crisis for Tim Hutton's Lyme Disease, and you're pretty much there, with the same picture of screwed-up suburban parents, kids who can't stand and don't respect them, and a young boy as a central characterwho's somewhat of an outsider and looking for love.

The biggest letdown of the film was the setup for a stinger at the end of the film that never happened. It could have been either comedic or tragic, but instead, the movie stopped, and the credits rolled straight through, after several minutes of building up anxiety and suspense. When an audience invests time and energy watching a film that builds to a crescendo, I think they should be rewarded for that investment of time, not just left wondering what the hell happened. I got the sense from watching the Q&A after the film that the director thought this ending would be artistic; in this particular film, it wasn't. Instead, it felt like an emotional ripoff that soured the experience. For this, I give Lymelife the "Eyes Wide Shut" award for tainting itself by not including a much-needed ending. A shame, since respectable performances are turned in by all of the principals.