Lonesome Jim

Name: Lonesome Jim
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: March 24, 2006
Duration: 91 min
Rating: 54
Cast: Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Mary Kay Place

2006

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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7.2

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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Lonesome Jim

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: March 24, 2006 | R

Starring: Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Mary Kay Place

Summary: Steve Buscemi's seamless direction and James C. Strouse's thoughtful script paint a picture of working-class characters filled with the comedy and rich details of everyday life. (IFC Films)

Director: Steve Buscemi

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 91 min

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Critic Reviews

Peter Travers

Buscemi does not act in Lonesome Jim, but his sly humor and keen eye for nuance resonate in every frame. I can't recall having a better time at a movie about depression. Read full review

Dallas Observer Melissa Levine

Bleak, minimal, bone-dry and hilarious, it creates a rich and layered world from deft strokes of dialogue and action. Read full review

Don R. Lewis

Affleck is dead on as the hapless Jim but the film is nearly stolen from him by Mark Boone Jr. who plays Jim's drug induced Uncle Evil. Kevin Corrigan is also great as Jim's brother Tim. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Mostly a snooze. Maybe if Buscemi himself had starred in it things would have turned out better. Read full review

Keith Phipps

It finds some fine comedic moments when it stops focusing on Affleck's never-ending angst and starts exploring small-town oddness. Read full review

J.R. Jones

At one point screenwriter James C. Strouse name-checks the brilliant Richard Yates, whose fiction similiarly perches between grim humor and utter despair, but the movie's hip detachment is a far cry from the unruly passions of Yates's chronic losers. Read full review

Chuck Wilson

First-time screenwriter James C. Strouse (in whose hometown the film was shot) provides so few clues to the source of Jim's malaise, or that of his entire sad-sack family, that the movie remains rudderless and not the least bit believable. Read full review

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User Reviews

NostrilR.

May 27, 2006

funny poignant excellent Affleck is superb Buscemi does an excellent job as director.

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bubbavox

Dec 5, 2020

I love this movie. I'm sure it's not for everyone. I found it painfully relatable and dryly hilarious. Kinda reminded me of the trashily realistic humor of Trailer Park Boys, but more understated, wholesome, and meaningful.

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RonO.

Apr 25, 2006

To anyone who has really struggled with depression, this film softly resonates. To all others, the film will return proportionally to the viewer's willingness to invest. Those who pan the film are likely unaware of the pervasivenss and depth of depression in modern society. And that is To anyone who has really struggled with depression, this film softly resonates. To all others, the film will return proportionally to the viewer's willingness to invest. Those who pan the film are likely unaware of the pervasivenss and depth of depression in modern society. And that is sad for them . This film, in it's simple way, is simply true to life, and well worth the time.… Expand

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ChadShiira

Oct 26, 2006

[***SPOILERS***] Signposts of a dysfunctional family point to Sally(Mary Kay Place) in the opening faux-happy scenes of "Lonesome Jim". When Jim (Casey Affleck) returns to the fold after an apparently long hiatus, she repeatedly refers to herself in the third person, as both a grandmother [***SPOILERS***] Signposts of a dysfunctional family point to Sally(Mary Kay Place) in the opening faux-happy scenes of "Lonesome Jim". When Jim (Casey Affleck) returns to the fold after an apparently long hiatus, she repeatedly refers to herself in the third person, as both a grandmother and mother. The latter sounds a little creepy because her sons (& Tim) are fully grown men, but her maternal overkill enacts as a sort of wish-fulfillment, an extension of her do-over, that she and her husband (Seymour Cassel) enjoy with their two grandchildren. At the outset of "Lonesome Jim", we hear her yearning for redemption in sentences that begin, "Let mother..." Obviously something went hideously wrong, because her two boys are back home; both depressed, both leeched of any optimism that something good will happen in their lives. Yes, "Lonesome Jim" is a blame-mom-and-dad-for-all-your-bull**** sort of film. And miraculously, it's not at all exasperating, thanks to the intervention of a dry, but uncannily plausible array of humorous situations. "Lonesome Jim" delivers some big laughs from the most subdued line deliveries. It has a very shrewd screenplay. "Lonesome Jim" is at its most brilliant when somebody finally tells Jim to shut up, which doesn't only address the situation at hand, but also for the unforgivable thing he says to Sally (mom) earlier in the film.… Expand

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JulioP.

Apr 22, 2006

This was a thoroughly mediocre film (was it even a "film"? it all looked very digital-born and the titles were hideously pixelated) and Mr. Buscemi's eye for comedy does not add to this show. It's tragic, plays out that way, and may be insulting to anyone who considers themselves This was a thoroughly mediocre film (was it even a "film"? it all looked very digital-born and the titles were hideously pixelated) and Mr. Buscemi's eye for comedy does not add to this show. It's tragic, plays out that way, and may be insulting to anyone who considers themselves ordinary. If the characters don't inspire tears of despair they are certainly yawn-worthy and the plot is thoroughly insipid. This production should have spent more time in editing, hopefully removing the rueful "details of everyday life."… Expand

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