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USA, 2008, 99 Min, Rated R Directed by DERICK MARTINI Southeast Premiere |
Tangled relationships, real estate speculation, and Lyme disease converge in the heart of suburbia. This tale of two families in 1970s Long Island revolves around 15-year-old Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) who is having trouble coping with more than the local Lyme disease hysteria. Scott's parents (Alec Baldwin and Jill Hennessy) are hitting another rough patch in their icy marriage, and his volatile brother (real-life sibling Kieran Culkin) is on furlough from the Army. Scott's neighbor and longtime crush, Adrianna (Emma Roberts), doesn't have it any better. With her father (Timothy Hutton) ill from Lyme disease, her mother (Cynthia Nixon) is forced back to work. When she starts selling homes for Scott's real estate developer father, the two troubled families collide with devastating consequences. Director Derick Martini and his brother and cowriter Steven drew inspiration from their own childhoods on "The Island," and get riveting performances from a truly stellar cast. They deliver a film filled with humor, authenticity, and emotional wreckage that leaves you wondering what's going on in the secret lives of your own neighbors.
