L.I.E. is a well-acted and unsettling look at a boy's relationship with a pedophile. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
With his mother dead and his father, Marty (Bruce Altman), busy at work, Howie (Paul Franklin Dano) feels adrift in his New York suburb. He and his friend Gary (Billy Kay) spend their time burglarizing their neighbors' homes -- until they make the mistake of robbing the house of Big John (Brian Cox), a macho former Marine who is also an unrepentant pedophile. He propositions Howie, who declines, but the two eventually develop an unlikely and dangerous friendship.
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Rating: R (Some Explicit Sexual Content)
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Genre: Drama
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Original Language: English
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Director: Michael Cuesta
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Producer: Rene Bastian, Michael Cuesta, Linda Moran
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Writer: Stephen M. Ryder, Michael Cuesta, Gerald Cuesta
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $1.1M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Lot 47 Films
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Production Co: Alter Ego, Belladonna Productions LLC
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Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo, Dolby SR
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Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)
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News & Interviews for L.I.E.
Critic Reviews for L.I.E.
Audience Reviews for L.I.E.
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One of the few films to discuss the taboo subject of pedophilia. Long Island Express is a coming of age film with a dark twist, the content is sure to disturb many.
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I never thought I'd say these words when describing a film, but this movie has the nicest pedophile I have ever seen. I don't mean to say that the film makes you think that Big John's actions are ever ok, in fact, far from it. But I will get to that later. This film could certainly be seen as controversial, but I'm not even sure why it got an NC-17 rating to be perfectly honest. Maybe it's the nature of the friendship that develops between Howie, a 15-year-old who's been stuck out in limbo since his mother's death, and Big John, a very obvious 50+ year old pedophile. Maybe it's just based off of that. There's one scene where, I'm assuming, Big John shows Howie some child pornography and you get to see some of it, I mean cut off of course, you get to see part of a person's head, for example, as they're performing a blowjob. Maybe that was it, I don't know. Personally I found the film to be quite compelling and the dynamic between Howie and Big John made for a very interesting movie. Because it's obvious that there's some part of John that would very much like to have sex with Howie, but there's also a part of him that wants to take care of this kid, for whatever reason that may be and that dynamic is really what carries the film. It's also a bit fucked up in the sense that Howie, in the emotional absence of his father since his mother's death, needs a father figure in his life to look over him and the only person FOR that is a known pedophile. Howie doesn't really even care about John's perversions and in many ways he'd like for John to do what he does. This is a story about a kid finding acceptance in all the wrong places, but John really is the only one who genuinely cares for him, in a strange way. John never takes advantage of Howie when he very well could've multiple times, he's always honest and upfront with him, doesn't try to force him to do anything he doesn't want to do. Big John is an honest man, for all of his faults and his perversions. Again, that dynamic is incredibly makes for an engrossing watch. You never really know what's gonna happen or what to expect form John, or even Howie for that matter. The film, very obviously, covers issues such as sexual identity and discovery. It's clear that Howie is a homosexual and John, while in no way taking advantage of him, makes Howie realizes what he really wants. The film lacks technical prowess but more than makes up for it with its scripting and strong acting from Brian Cox and Paul Dano. Let's just say Brian Cox could've played the character as detestable as humanly possible, he's that talented, but he makes the character a little more complex than that. Again, the film doesn't try to justify his behavior, but it does somewhat humanize a character that most would want to look at as a monster. That's another thing you struggle with, as a viewing audience, Big John, while at his core he's a bad man, he's also a man with a lot of good in his heart as evidenced by his friendship with Howie and how he grows to care for him in a genuine manner. Really good movie here, not perfect, but a thought-provoking and engrossing coming-of-age story.
jesse o Super Reviewer -
Good, but be ready for some biting qualities.
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Difficult to watch but a masterful film.
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