CIFF 29, Part 4
Lonesome Jim
The Festival opener, directed by Steve Buscemi. This is what I like to call a "loser protagonist" film (related to but not the same as classical tragedy). The problem with these movies is that the writer & director have to walk a fine line to get and keep the audience interested in the protagonist(s)--hard do to when their flaws are every bit as damning as the other losers surrounding or opposing them. In this case, I didn't buy into the protagonist's position--not, I think, due to any flaw in Casey Affleck's acting of the role, I just didn't like the way the character of Jim was written. The love interest (and related Cute Kid Factor(tm) helped though.
Lonesom Jim passes the "Sully test" with flying colors (i.e., it didn't suck), but it completely fails to be a great (or even very good) movie. I rated it 3 of 5 (1=best).
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