Quiet desperation affects Jim, the main character in Steve Buscemi's indie film. It seems he can't make it on his own and has returned to the small town where he grew up to reconnect with his family: his Pollyanna of a mother, his ornery father, and underachieving brother who works at a job just barely above minimum wage. Interestingly enough, life back home is as dreary as ever, and Jim's brother Tim (in an apparent and almost successful suicide attempt) suffers an automobile accident that lands him in the hospital. This, just as it seems things might get a little brighter when Jim meets Anika at a bar and they hit it off in an offbeat way.
LONESOME JIM is, like BUBBLE, one of those movies that tell stories of the mostly forgotten small-town people who live in the Midwest and have either dreams of making it big, have never been to a large city -- let alone a metropolis -- and are caught in a vicious cycle of a dead-end job that offers practically nothing but minimum wage. Despite the pessimism of several of the characters, it's quite sweet, really, and Mary Kay Place's performance as the ever-positive mother is touching even when her character gets framed for drug-smuggling and she has to smile at Jim's suggestion she read a depressing book.
Steve Buscemi proves he can be better behind the screen than in front as well. While his filming style is a tad flat and his choice of filming media might have been more due to budget, he pulls it off quite well, and his entire cast is on cue in their respective roles. In particular, Casey Affleck is quite touching as the lost Jim, and Liv Tyler is absolutely sweet in her role (even when she may be a little too pretty to be a believable small-town girl, I think). All in all, a charming, quirky movie by someone whom you wouldn't expect could tell this kind of story.
LONESOME JIM is, like BUBBLE, one of those movies that tell stories of the mostly forgotten small-town people who live in the Midwest and have either dreams of making it big, have never been to a large city -- let alone a metropolis -- and are caught in a vicious cycle of a dead-end job that offers practically nothing but minimum wage. Despite the pessimism of several of the characters, it's quite sweet, really, and Mary Kay Place's performance as the ever-positive mother is touching even when her character gets framed for drug-smuggling and she has to smile at Jim's suggestion she read a depressing book.
Steve Buscemi proves he can be better behind the screen than in front as well. While his filming style is a tad flat and his choice of filming media might have been more due to budget, he pulls it off quite well, and his entire cast is on cue in their respective roles. In particular, Casey Affleck is quite touching as the lost Jim, and Liv Tyler is absolutely sweet in her role (even when she may be a little too pretty to be a believable small-town girl, I think). All in all, a charming, quirky movie by someone whom you wouldn't expect could tell this kind of story.