SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Sandcooler This movie doesn't as much tell a story as it conveys a feeling, and that feeling is "mind-numbingly depressed". Casey Affleck is wonderful in this movie. He managed to be sad for 90 minutes without ever hamming things up, which makes that one outburst of joy he has very beautiful. Sadly, this film is somewhat held back by one rather typical indie cliché: its lack of pace. We're not just dealing with a slow-moving plot here, because there is no plot. It's just a slow-moving bunch of scenes. Most of the scenes go on for a bit too long, others are just plain unnecessary. Thank God the occasional dark humour can bring something extra, because parts of this movie are really quite boring. Nevertheless, Jim is a compelling character, and Steve Buscemi appears to be quite talented as a director, so this is still worth seeing.

Doegred Most characters in this film are somewhat neurotic and depressed, yet it is a highly funny comedy; you find yourself feeling for them, yet the film does not resort to sentimentality or clichés. Not everything gets right in the end, though a touch of optimism is present as well; it avoids every cliché about growing up, getting to love life etc. (How I love the basket-ball match scene, a hilarious subversion of the usual cliché.) It's much nicer than that : characterization is very subtle and supported by great performances from everyone. There is not much of a plot, but that's not a problem. So it's a subtle, depressed, hilarious film. Thumbs up for Steve Buscemi.

sixtwentysix 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.

caffey-3 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!