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Movies / On DVD / Lonesome Jim
Lonesome Jim

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Lonesome Jim (2006)

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59 %
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Reviews Counted: 85

Fresh: 50

Rotten:35

Average Rating: 6.1/10

Consensus: Though Lonesome Jim is leavened by sweet, understated humor, it's hard to root for such a morose, self-defeating protagonist.

Rated: 15

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release: 11-04-2008

Synopsis: With LONESOME JIM, director Steve Buscemi delivers another low-budget gem about small-town American life. Boasting a fresh script courtesy of James C. Strouse, the film begins when 27-year-old Jim (Casey Affleck) returns to his small... With LONESOME JIM, director Steve Buscemi delivers another low-budget gem about small-town American life. Boasting a fresh script courtesy of James C. Strouse, the film begins when 27-year-old Jim (Casey Affleck) returns to his small Indiana town after having failed to make a dent as a writer in New York City. Depressed beyond comprehension, Jim must contend with his actively suicidal brother (Kevin Corrigan), insane mother (Mary Kay Place), and dangerously clueless uncle (Mark Boone Junior). Along the way, he meets a too-good-to-be-true nurse, Anika (Liv Tyler), and begins coaching his niece's hapless basketball squad. As time passes, the fog threatens to hang around forever, making Jim wonder if returning home might have been the worst mistake of all. Hilarious in its honesty, tender in its performances, and compassionate in its direction, LONESOME JIM is an example of superior independent filmmaking. Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler deliver especially wonderful performances, giving three-dimensional depth to characters that could potentially have come off as one-note clichés. One can only hope that audiences will see through the low-budget production values and embrace the film's universal themes. [More]

Starring: Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Mary Kay Place, Seymour Cassel

Starring: Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Mary Kay Place, Seymour Cassel, Kevin Corrigan, Mark Boone

Director: Steve Buscemi

Director: Steve Buscemi
Screenwriter: James C. Strouse
Producer: Celine Rattray, Jake Abraham
Studio: IFC Films

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Reviews for Lonesome Jim

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Ratings Image

Minimalist, moody and morose, Lonesome Jim is a minor gem.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
04/11/08
James Mottram
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

The world would be a better place if Steve Buscemi made more movies.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
04/11/08
Nev Pierce
Total Film
Ratings Image

Steve Buscemi's third film as a director is a low key affair delivered with a wry sense of humour.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/11/08
Paul Arendt
BBC
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Ratings Image

It's poignant, quietly life-affirming little story that doesn't need to shout. Lonesome Jim's good company.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
04/11/08
Tim Evans
Sky Movies
Ratings Image

Though this clash of picket-fenced, down-home values and big city oafishness was handled with a little more delicacy in 2005’s superb ‘Junebug’, Buscemi’s film has lots to say about this fruitful dynamic.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
04/11/08
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
04/10/08
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

Refreshingly, there’s more lethargy than awakening here...

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It's such a joy to watch that we often forget it's basically about people who have lost the will to live

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/30/05
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image

Has great relevance to the lost adultolescent generation of today ... but it also flounders in its commonplace and too-familiar concept.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
09/17/07
Christopher Campbell
Cinematical
Ratings Image

A depressing illustration of how even Middle America has ended up marginalized and rudderless in the wake of outsourcing, downsizing and globalization.

Full Review Source: Weekly Press | comment Comment
06/16/07
Kam Williams
Weekly Press
Ratings Image

As the credits started to roll, I came to a pleasant and all-too-rare moviegoing realization: The smile that had crept across my face during the very first scene had never left.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Jon Frosch
Film Journal International
Ratings Image

Its title character is such a lifeless loser, you wish Moonstruck's Cher was around to slap him hard and yell, 'Snap out of it!'

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
06/02/06
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Ratings Image

"Lonesome Jim" is worth checking out, if nothing else for the performances and Buscemi's idiosyncratic sense of irony.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
05/26/06
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca
Ratings Image

Too many movies offer cardboard cutouts of even their primaries, but Jim delivers honest, three-dimensional portraits of each of the major players.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
05/19/06
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal
Ratings Image

Manages to be bitter, dispiriting and utterly pointless all at once.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
05/19/06
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Ratings Image

Helped by the precise details of small-town life and laughs generated by circumstances almost everyone can relate to, Lonesome Jim is gratifying because of its nearly cheerful depiction of sorrow, not in spite of it.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
05/19/06
Paul Doro
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ratings Image

Fancies itself a black comedy, but there's only one joke, and it's that dark-cloud-over- Jim's-head thing -- and it wears thin fast.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
05/19/06
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies
Ratings Image

It all feels very slight.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
05/19/06
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Ratings Image

... the story of Percyesque ex-suicide, a parable about how embracing childish things can be part of growing up.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
05/19/06
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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