Lymelife

When there is too much dysfunction I find myself pulling away from the drama. I don’t care about the characters and at times I wanted to laugh. At its best it is a story of coming of age of a young adolescent. It certainly points out various methods of acting to cope with dysfunction. I believe the film would have worked better if one aspect of the story was developed and became the central theme. In this film every member of two families is unsatisfied with life. The lives are intertwined and it is all too much.

We have the pleasure of meeting two families that live close by in a Long Island pastoral suburb. The time is the late 70’s.

Mickey Bartlett is a financially secure developer. That seems to be enough for him because he is totally lacking in sensitivity to the needs of his wife and two sons. He even goes about purchasing a large house in the area without telling his wife. One son joined the services to get away from the family and is about to be shipped off to the Falklands. The other son, Scott, is the key character. He is very slight and appears as an immature, weak and sulky kid. Some of the tougher kids in the school call him names, extort money and beat him up. His best friend is the gorgeous young girl, Adriana which leads me into the other family.

The Braggs are closely involved with the Bartletts. Charlie, the father, has lyme disease which means he is unwell and cannot work. He wears the same suit all the time even when he is out walking in the woods. To me he is a dangerous character because he walks in the woods with his rifle and even target practices in the woods which are right behind the homes of the Braggs and the Bartletts. His beautiful wife is quite a temptress. Obviously she is frustrated and upset with her husband’s condition. She works for Mickey Bartlett. You can guess the connection there. To make it worse everybody in the two families knows about the liaison. At times the daughter Adriana is sweet and attentive to Scott. She can also be a temptress beyond her years and just plain mean.

At the very end I had the feeling that there was some hope and perhaps one of the families was going to be able to work it out. Guess again. The ending was shocking and surprising. Too much! Maybe some of the aspects of their lives are believable. There were too many problems and I just didn’t care about these characters. Thank goodness I don’t live near such unhappy folk.