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Movie Review - Lonesome Jim (2006)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Steve Buscemi |
| Starring: |
Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Mary Kay Place, Seymour Cassel, Kevin Corrigan, and Mark Boone Junior |
| Rated: |
R (for language, some sexuality and drug content) |
| Length: |
91 minutes |
| Genre: |
Drama/Comedy |
| Tagline: |
Change your outlook. Change your life. |
| Studio: |
IFC Films |
| Website: |
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| Release: |
April 28, 2006 |
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PLOT
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According to the movie's title, Jim (Affleck) is a lonesome young man who headed out to New York, failed as a writer,
and has decided to move back to his hometown in Indiana and mooch off his parents. He proceeds to make everybody's
life around him a little less joyful, but for some reason that doesn't stop Liv Tyler (who plays some character
whose name I don't care to look up) from falling in love with him. Depression ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Eh. I don't think it's any secret why Jim is so lonesome - he's so dadgum lifeless! Sheesh. Come on,
dude, lighten up and smile for once in your life. Lonesome Jim is one of those "slice of life" stories that
high school English teachers love to talk about. Unfortunately, this is a slice of a very morose, depressed life.
All Jim does is mope and make those around him miserable. He admits that he's a screw-up (not exactly the
term he uses), but he castigates his brother (Corrigan) as a tragedy. No big deal. This only motivates bro to
attempt suicide. And then, despite his sweet mother giving him money and supporting his lazy self, he
tells her some people shouldn't have been parents.
Therein lies the movie's main problem; its lead character just isn't very likeable. At least not to me. Rather
than root for him, I wanted to punch him in the face. You can probably see why I didn't choose social services
as a career. I'll give Affleck credit; he fits the role of a downtrodden loser very well, but after all, he is
an Affleck, so this might not have been too big a challenge for him. A tribute to or an indictment of his acting?
I'll let you be the judge.
The fact that I found myself less than interested in Jim's welfare also made his relationship with Liv Tyler a little
too unbelievable. She meets the guy at a bar and then has sex with him later that night on a hospital bed (she's a
nurse). Then, after he fails to prove himself a great lover or at least willing to call her back, she gives him a
second chance and dotes on how "great" he is.
How's he great? He smokes dope, mooches off his parents, disrespects his mother, causes his brother to nearly
commit suicide, has no job, and clearly has no qualms about one-night stands. What about this guy screams
"winner"? Does Liv just have an unhealthy Affleck brother fetish? I didn't buy it.
All this isn't to say that Lonesome Jim is without merit. Director Buscemi perfectly captures the somber,
Midwest mood he was going for, and there are moments of quirky humor here (Uncle Evil the druggie is a big reason
for that), but my inability to relate to or care about any of the characters prevented me from completely engaging
myself in the film.
Those of you who have ever taken a stab at a dream, failed, and nearly given up on life (rather than pushing forward)
will likely enjoy this on a different level than I was able to. It's certainly a competent effort, but a little more
life and eccentricity could've gone a long way. It's bad enough that Jim is suffering from "chronic despair." No
need to make the audience do the same thing.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Budget: $500,000
- Filmed in only 16 days.
- Casey Affeck was in Ocean's Eleven with Scott Caan who was in
Into the Blue with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin
Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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This one isn't really for mama or the kiddies. We get profanity ("f" bombs and G-d**ns), a couple of sex
scenes, and Casey Affleck peeing with no pants on.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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If the trailer grabs your interest then you'll probably enjoy the movie. It effectively projects the mood to
expect.
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THE GIST
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Lonesome Jim is a fairly depressing story about a fairly uninteresting guy. Those of you turtleneck
wearers with pencil-thin goatees who sip coffee out of wine glasses and love to discuss matters of despondency
and forlornness will dig this. But moviegoers looking for somebody to cheer on and root for might want to look
elsewhere.
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