Lonesome Jim (2005)

People are voting emotionally.

Best movie of this year hands down!

Best movie ever!

Absolutely Brilliant!

Casey Afleck as axis. Story of a family. Sense of life as illusion. Twoo brothers, some words, a car accident. Drogs and a delicate love story. A child team and a game. A factory and strange relative. Few hope drops. Slice of small common America, it is lesson about values, expectation and ways. About things and their essence, causes and social terminals. Everything as world of old story. A film about nothing, as many others. But, in same time, a definition of limits and real aspect of travel to yourself. Casey Afleck is great in a genre of gray character who makes action heavy. A film for recognize the crumbs of light in the dark of soul.

I just picked this off the shelf for the hell of it. Throughout the whole movie I was expecting Jim to say more. Maybe that's his appeal to some viewers, but the kid just needed to spit it (his feelings) out more. Come to think of it, the movie lacked dialogue! His character reminded me much of his character in The Last Kiss. I haven't seen many films with Casey Affleck, but I'd draw parallels to Owen Wilson in that his characters are all very similar, typecast so to speak. Casey Affleck is the melancholy quiet kid who lives in his own head. As I expected more from this film I rated it a 5. The case description is also misleading, he doesn't so much 'stumble into a romance' with Liv Tyler's character as they're getting it on in a hospital bed within hours of their meeting each other. I was expecting something more emotional of their relationship and it was HARDLY that.

Casey Affleck does a good job becoming the unlovable loser that you're actually interested in watching in this film. And for what it's worth, I feel like this film did a great job avoiding indie cliché's. Jim is not really overly inept or annoyingly stupid; in the contrary he's just kind of a high minded loser fumbling about for the same things most people fumble about for. Love, self respect and meaning in life. He's someone that's thinking somehow they are above the standard human fare because he has a specialization in literature.Growing up in the Midwest I can say this captures Midwestern life almost perfectly. The tone of the settings, the reactions of the characters and even the fact that it appears to be shot in that brownish tan time between winter and spring which always reminded me of the Midwest no matter where I went. The supporting actors all turn in very good performances and it's interesting to look at.This was a good movie. Steve Buscemi has mastered the art of subtlety and after seeing this movie and reading a few user reviews, I gather it's lost to a large number of people. Much like Ghost World which he starred in, he gives you hints and details that allow you to find character motivations and to flesh out their inner workings. In other words, he allows you to use your imagination. The film is like Jim, sad and brooding but with the hint of a good heart trying to find a way out. This is very funny and melancholy piece that's well worth a watch for people who enjoy films like this.

I enjoy many types of movies, from the big blockbusters to the small independents, and when I saw Steve Buscemi had directed this one, I rented it with some enthusiasm. This movie drained the enthusiasm right out of me. Perhaps something was resolved in the end (though the other comments here seem to indicate it isn't), but I couldn't make it. After watching Jim plod through life while pretty much nothing else happened for an hour had me craving sleep. And, as someone else mentioned previously, how does a complete loser like this end up with a girl like Liv Tyler. Where are all those beautiful, desperate women around here?!? Anyway, no complaints about the performances, but I found this to be a very slow, boring film, and the main character seems to have absolutely no redeeming qualities at all. However, second viewings of movies I've disliked in the past have often changed my opinion, so if I ever catch this on cable, perhaps I'll give it another shot. But then again...