L.I.E

A biting and disturbing coming-of-age story. Life is bittersweet along the L.I.E. -- also known as the Long Island Expressway -- as suburban teenager Howie Blitzer (Paul Franklin Dano) learns all too clearly. In the space of a week, Howie loses nearly everything and everyone he knows and is left to navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised. Brian Cox co-stars as an older man who befriends the troubled youth.


"Howie, if you do stuff with guys, that's gay stuff. If you do stuff with girls, that's straight stuff." Howie's friend tells him. "L.I.E." is an acronym for the Long Island Expressway. The long stretch of freeway in New York responsible for getting millions of people to where they need to go, but also responsible for many grisly deaths, the L.I.E. acts as a metaphor for the bored, damaged characters in "L.I.E." This picture is not for everyone. I do like to watch Independent movies, just about when i am tired of the formula movies. This picture is still powerful filmmaking that also represents one of the few times any movie has taken the chance and dramatized such a precarious topic as pedophilia.

Brian Cox gives a very convincing performance. What makes "L.I.E." often resonate is the performance of Brian Cox as Big John. An accomplished and respected actor, Cox digs deep into the character and makes a very important choice in his portrayal of this sick man: he doesn't demonize him. The best way for an actor to portray evil is to not make the character appeal evil at all. It was a good watch, if not a great one.

Rating: 3/5