L.I.E. (2001)

A 15-year-old Long Island boy loses everything and everyone he knows, soon becoming involved in a relationship with a much older man.

Director:

Michael Cuesta

Writers:

Stephen M. Ryder, Michael Cuesta,

Stars:

Paul Dano, Bruce Altman, Billy Kay

22 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Dano	...	Howie Blitzer (as Paul Franklin Dano)
Bruce Altman	...	Marty Blitzer
Billy Kay	...	Gary
James Costa	...	Kevin Cole
Tony Michael Donnelly	...	Brian (as Tony Donnelly)
Michelle Carano	...	Newscaster
Tatiana Burgos	...	Marty's Girlfriend
Brian Cox	...	Big John Harrigan
B. Constance Barry	...	Anne Harrigan
Walter Masterson	...	Scott
Brad Silnutzer	...	Henry
Bob Gerardi	...	Clifford
Adam LeFevre	...	Elliot
Frank Rivers	...	Man with Pizza (as Frank G. Rivers)
Anthony F. Peragine	...	Tough Kid #1

Storyline

Fifteen-year-old Howie loses just about everything and everyone in the space of a single week, but ends up finding himself in the process. His mother has just died. His father, a building contractor, can barely keep tabs on his young girlfriend, let alone his own son. Thusly, the teen must navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised. Floating towards an ill-behaved existence, Howie and his crowd begin robbing houses in the middle-class neighborhoods off the Long Island Expressway. Together, he and his best friend Gary break into a place belonging to an old guy named Big John, a local man who is a respected pillar of the community. When Big John fingers Gary for the crime, Howie learns that his pal has been leading a secret, dangerous but also alluring double life. Subsequently, we also discover that Big John has secrets of his own.

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Plot Keywords:

building contractor | friend | gay | truant | death | 

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Taglines:

On the Long Island Expressway there are lanes going east, lanes going west, and lanes going straight to hell.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

LOT 47 Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 November 2002 (UK)

Also Known As:

L.I.E. - Sem Saída

Filming Locations:

217 Broadway, Amityville, Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$82,530 (USA) (7 September 2001)

Gross:

$1,141,829 (USA) (22 February 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alter Ego Entertainment, Belladonna Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marty and Howie address is 20, Randolph Drive and their phone number is 631-405-0377. (in the scene where Gary breaks in).

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Goofs

The soap when Big John shaves Howie.

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Quotes

Howie: On the Long Island Expressway there are lanes going east, lanes going west, and lanes going straight to hell.

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Connections

References Star Trek (1966)

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Soundtracks

"Lascia ch'io Pianga"
Written by George Frideric Handel
Naxos Music Ltd.
Performed by The Vienna Boys' Choir
Courtesy of Phillips Classics/Universal Music Recordings

User Reviews

Fine Job

L.I.E. is the name of the movie and short for Long Island Expressway. At the beginning of the movie fifteen year-old Howie stands on top a bridge over that expressway . A fine opening sequence in which we are not sure he will jump nor how the movie will break away from the tense opening. He returns to the bridge several times during the movie. The fifteen year-old has lost mother to the L.I.E. and has no substantive relationship with his father. He becomes friends with another boy who sells his body to men at a local rest stop. Together they rob houses and are caught in the act attempting to rob the home of a pederast called Big John. Howie narrowly escapes sans the left rear pocket of his jeans which Big John has torn from him in the chase. Later the pederast and Howie become friends. I don't want to give away too much of the plot but I found this movie a sensitive portrayal of a difficult subject to present objectively(especially in these times of the new conservatism): namely man-boy love.

The film has a very erotic quality to it with some nice shots of the teen in underwear. The keen edge of the drama is mollified by fine sequences of comic relief involving the friends of the main character. Ironically the only explicit sex scene was a heterosexual one between Howie's father and his girlfriend. The sound track is very good I thought. I liked the bit where they played 'Hurdy-Gurdy Man' as Big John is cruising the junior high school. And they have a touching Handel aria near the end. I think the relationship between the boy and the older man was well done. The actor who played Big John was exceptional. Much light is thrown on his character in scenes having nothing to do with boys: his birthday party, his drive home near the end. The only part I did not care for was the ending. It did not seem to fit at all. Roger Ebert felt the same way indicating that it seemed like an ending spliced on from another movie. I agree. I give two thumbs up to this movie: one for the way they portrayed the subject matter and another for the fine acting.