LYMELIFE

(R)

Coming of age stories work well when we are drawn into the young character at the core of the story. In this movie, set in the mid 70's in Long Island, N.Y., Rory Culkin plays it one-note and very downbeat as a sappy kid in love with the girl next door (Emma Roberts.) His older brother (Kieran Culkin) is shocked to come home from military duty to find their father (Alec Baldwin) cheating on their passive mother (Jill Hennessy) with a neighborhhod wife and mother (Cynthia Nixon.) Add to the problem with that woman's husband (Timothy Hutton) suffering from Lyme disease. He's hiding in the basement smoking pot and killing animals. None of the adult characters are developed. We see their actions, from marital fighting to passionate lovemaking, but never find out their backstories. The adolescent characters are droppy rather than engaging, the pace slow, the story not deep enough to invest in..though it's always good to see fine actors like Hutton, Nixon and Baldwin. Too bad they didn't have more to do. No hats.