Lonesome Jim (2005)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Pretty Good

Fresh and Exciting

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I thought it was a beautiful movie. Casey Afflect is a pleasure and joy to watch. Great young actor. The story was simply touching. I recommend it for only adults though. The content would be difficult for a younger child to understand. It's not a movie for young children not because it is based on vulgarity, but on adult issues and emotional struggles. I commend Casey, and Liv for taking the roles. They both did exceptionally beautiful jobs. Both brought tenderness and life to a very complex and difficult story to portray. Someone said Casey mentioned he does not enjoy acting. Even if he doesn't, he is truly gifted in this area and is a moving actor. He ranks up there with Joaquin Phonenix and Leonardo DeCaprio in my book. I hope he continues to deliver us more performances. He is my favorite in all Hollywood.

This is the most pure example of American independent film that I've seen in years. Zeroing in on a few characters, a limited situation, perfectly consistent in tone (which might be characterized as realist-deadpan), simply yet effectively done--this is the best Raymond Carver adaptation ever made, yet of course it's not even based on one of his stories (it's based on a fine original screenplay by James Strouse).It seems like back in the late '80s films like this were made, but very rarely are anymore, when every independent film has become either a star vehicle or a strident, obvious Satire. This film (like Buscemi's also marvelous "Trees Lounge") seems organic to the story it's telling. I came to the film knowing nothing about it, had no idea where it was going or what it was up to, and was always happily surprised that it didn't take the cheap route through anything.The performances are all excellent. Mary Kay Place perfectly plays the all-American mom and without calling undue attention to himself Affleck absolutely embodies a type we've all met many times before but rarely see on screen with this level of detail. Even Liv Tyler is good. But a special word should be said about Buscemi as a director. There's nothing fancy in how he works yet he seems to know completely how to shape a movie, getting the most out of his actors and the bland settings that the drama plays out in. I wish we had more darkly comic, substantial, humane films like this. I really hope Buscemi gets to make many more films.

This movie was a total downer....just like the characters. I watched it to the end to see if there was really a point to it. There wasn't. There was a redeeming quality in that Liv Tyler was the most uplifting person and the youngster who played her son ( Jack Rovello ) was really good. Casey Affleck might be a good actor in that he made me detest Lonesome Jim for the laziness and pathetic character he played. Mary Kay Place was the ever optimistic mother of the two looser sons and husband. This movie made as much sense as Napoleon Dynamite...and I couldn't make it to the end of that one. I'm sure there was a moral in this story, but I couldn't find it. Don't waste your time!

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...