:
Brian Cox,
Brian Cox,
Paul Franklin Dano,
more...
:
Michael Cuesta,
Michael Cuesta
see all cast/crew...
: New Yorker Video
: Drama, Gay & Lesbian, Coming of Age , Features
: 97 min.
: English
see additional details...
|
|
A teenaged boy in desperate need of a father figure finds one in a place no one should ever have to look in this controversial drama. Howie (Paul Franklin Dano) is a 15-year-old who has been emotionally at sea ever since the death of his mother in an auto accident several years before. Howie's father Marty (Bruce Altman) is also having trouble dealing with the loss, and distracts himself with empty sex while avoiding authorities attempting to prosecute him for using unsafe materials in his building contracting business. Howie falls in with a group of homeless delinquents his own age, becoming especially close to streetwise Gary (Billy Kay). In time, Howie begins to wonder if his feelings for Gary go past ordinary friendship, but the issue of his sexuality is forced into a very different light after Gary persuades Howie to join him in robbing the home of middle-aged former Marine Big John Harrigan (Brian Cox). It doesn't take long for Big John to track down the culprits after Howie and Gary steal several guns from his house, but Howie learns that Big John and Gary have met before -- Gary sometimes works as a male prostitute, and Big John, whose tastes run to boys in their early teens, is a regular customer. When Gary runs away to California, Big John proposes that Howie work off their debt by having sex with him; while Howie is hardly comfortable with this arrangement, he has nowhere else to go after his father ends up in jail, and he finds an unexpected degree of emotional support in his relationship with the curiously compassionate pedophile, who comes to understand just how badly Howie needs help. L.I.E. (the title stands for "Long Island Expressway") premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
You might also enjoy:
Happiness
The New Jersey 'burbs is the setting for this very dark and perverse comedy
Love and Death on Long Island
Lovely little sleeper about an older gay man's crush on a young actor
Read GreenCine's exclusive interview with Michael Cuesta, who talks about his new film, Twelve and Holding, his debut feature, L.I.E., and his work for television. Full article >>
|
| judged by the cover
by mechanicalme
May 21, 2008 - 3:03 PM PDT
|
|
| This movie looked better from the cover than it did on my screen. not as shocking as "shocking" is defined for me. well acted, interesting plot. worth viewing but don't clear your schedule for it. |
| very interesting
by NNascenzi
April 4, 2004 - 7:21 PM PDT
|
|
| A well filmed movie - although everything was tied up a bit too neatly at the end. This is not your typical coming of age flick. |
| Maybe I see way too many way too dark films - but...
by Kenyon
November 11, 2002 - 8:34 PM PST
|
|
|
4 out of 4 members found this review helpful
|
I thought this one was damn tame, and that - like too many movies - its was hyped way past its due. On the other hand, maybe I should be glad that this film is really disturbing to many people. I, on the other hand, found "Happiness" a much more disgusting and unpleasant depiction of a pedophile, and that one was supposed to be some kind of funny or something.... (I'm some kind of minority for not liking that film, I know.)
I thought that L.I.E., on the other hand, gives a surprisingly even-handed, realistic and even empathetic protrayal of a man struggling with an internal demon he can't understand. Of course, that doesn't mean its a great movie. I liked it, though, and I was surprised by the ending. And that's got to be worth something, right?
(Plus, the guy's doorbell is a scream!) |
|
| >> more reviews |
|
GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.91)
365 Votes
add to list 
|
|
|
Your cart
quidkid
FGozza
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.