Lonesome Jim (2005)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Steve Buscemi

Writer:

James C. Strouse (written by)

Release Date:

16 November 2005 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Change your outlook. Change your life.

Plot:

Failing to make it on his own, 27-year-old Jim moves back in with his parents and deals with crippling family obligations.

Plot Keywords:

Indiana | Nurse | Ladder Factory | Factory | Coma

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Casey Affleck	...	Jim
Kevin Corrigan	...	Tim
Mary Kay Place	...	Sally
Seymour Cassel	...	Don
Rachel Strouse	...	Rachel
Sarah Strouse	...	Sarah
Rick Duplissie	...	Bar Patron
Liv Tyler	...	Anika
Mark Boone Junior	...	Evil
Jake La Botz	...	Phillip
Jack Rovello	...	Ben
Don Strouse	...	Neighbor
Doug Liechty Caskey	...	Doug the preacher
Pam Angell	...	Stacy - Prostitute

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

USA:91 min | Argentina:91 min | Germany:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | USA:R | Australia:M | Hungary:14 | Finland:K-11 | Argentina:13 | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Cromwell, Indiana, USA

Company:

InDigEnt (Independent Digital Entertainment)

Trivia:

The shoot took 16 days.

Quotes:

Jim: You have a girlfriend, Evil?
Evil: Nah. I use hookers. It's cheaper.

Movie Connections:

References Henry Fool (1997)

Soundtrack:

Chase Him

Lonesome train whistle sounding in rural rustbelt

You can object to the choice to make this film about a so-called depressive. You can object that Jim doesn't just snap out of it. But of all the things you can say about Lonesome Jim, you can't say it is badly made.

This film is like a meditation: it totally clears the mind of everything else and allows you to focus on what is there in front of you.

The grainy film did not strike me as low quality or cheap. It made the film like watching home movies; there is nothing glamorous about this scene. It was totally in keeping with the theme of muted emotion. The graininess sometimes slows things down so much that the characters appear to be talking through the haze of their dull surroundings, and they are the liveliest things about the situation. It almost transforms film into a cartoon drama by the younger sibling.

Is the main character Jim (Casey Affleck) suffering from depression? Well, alright. But that assessment papers over the interesting sources of the emotion stifling: the relationship between son and parents, and how he has subverted his personality with them; and the relationship he has with the rest of his hometown.

The whole thing is so real – we especially digest meaning during Jim's driving scenes, inevitably at twilight when the post industrial fading rural landscape is at its most evocative, stirring feelings of profound longing and sadness.

(There must be a retrospective of Sensitive Boy flicks somewhere. To my recollection, Ordinary People could be the first in the series, but among the others, and I'm sure there are many, many more than I can think of here, are You Can Count on Me, and Imaginary Heroes. I've also heard that Garden State could be slotted in there, but I haven't seen it.)

This is a brilliant film.

So why not give it 10 out of 10? Because we do not know yet if it will stand the test of time. Already Ordinary People does not pack the same punch as did 20 odd years ago. Also, these films have a relatively small theme. So though while intense and delicate in emotional depiction, their reach is rather narrow and might not possess any universal themes. They are particularly US-centric. Which is fine, but it precludes them from greatness.