L.I.E. (Unrated)
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Movie Reviews of L.I.E. (Unrated)
Movie Review: Super Film, great on DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a difficult movie on many levels.Because it's within the reality of the real world, it's more difficult to adapt to its' world which is what we're used to in scifi or horror or period films. The eerie thing about this film is that it is going on.
It starts out about a boy, lost and abandoned by his father, on his own. And this makes him susceptible to a predator, a sexual predator who adopts young boys to consume them. This could be done in a simplistic fashion, in the sense that predator goes for little boy but there's a game going on here. The game is that the boys this man goes after are smart and it's smart characters on all sides that make a film crackle.
The boys may be inexperienced but they aren't stupid to the world or to people's intent or their value to them. Eventually it becomes a cat and mouse game of teh boy and the predator with him playing the old man much as a woman would a much older man. Creating a sexual tension to unseat the young man who lives iwth the predator and then consume him himself. Now to apply such calculation to a child may seem dark or projecting upon the film but even the characters are aware and comment on this. I think that in one way this film asserts that children, teenagers, are people, thinking, feeling, needing people. The pedophile is then put at the mercy of his addiction, his desires because once someone knows your button, especially such a dangerous button, they have a measure of control over you.
However the predator is a predator and has logically done thsi many, many times so he sees and knows the game this boy is playing with him, it's been played before. But like a true predator, the chase, the hunt is so enticing that he keeps pushing himself further and further to get his target.
What makes this movie better than just a pedophile film is that we get to see that this young boy is exploring his sexuliaty, with a crush on his roguish friend who secretly is a victim of the pedophile and others for money and favors. This movie explores the fact that no one, even children who are abandoned to their own devices by bad parents become both victims and predators themselves.
To watch the parents ignore their children until eventually the rogue boy runs away and the other boy is caught by the predator because he has no where to go. It is heartbreaking because the boy loses the rogue boy he loves, who runs away ripping off his best friend's father, and he's eventually played around with the attention of a pedophile so much that the comfort of this man's desires becomes the love he seeks. Even when the young man who the pedophile kicks out temporarily to create a seductive environment for the boy eventually lashes out at both the boy, he saves his rage for the predator.
I purposefully didn't go into actors names here because it's so vitally important that they become invisible, that they become their characters who are all linked by the Long Island Expressway. I've stood on the overpass much as the boy does and contemplated my existence, etc. and one can see a thoughtful young man being marred by love, a lack of. Though the film does show redemption as the boy eventually visits his newly imprisoned father and tells him that he loves him, supports him in his Enron-esque criminal problems, because all they have is each other. But he also warns his father that he will tolerate no more abuse, that he is a person. That lesson and self-assertion is what makes the movie, stellar and I highly recommend it!
Movie Review: Not a "Gay Film"
Summary: 5 Stars
The gross misnomer "Gay Film" has been applied to this masterful work too many times. It is a brilliantly acted, and well-written coming-of-age story (in intriguing genre, for the film is hardly cliché) of a 15-year-old boy named Howie Blitzer (expertly played by Paul Dano). While it is the acting of the relatively young Dano that shines in this film, Brian Cox is also fabulous - both tender and frightening - often in the same scene, promulgated by Michael Cuesta's direction. Additionally, the editing choices of this film were also quite good.
The viewer learns in the first five minutes that Howie's mother has recently died and he is still a bit messed up over the whole affair. He also has fallen into a group of somewhat stereotypical juvenile delinquents who cut school and hang out at the back of a pizza place (and inside the place at one point) debating whether its "clitoris" or "clintosaurus," "Dr. Bones McCoy" or "Dr. Phones McCoy" from Star Trek.
It is a motley bunch for sure, including a guy who "f--ks his sister," the corrections officer's son who wishes he had a sister, the punk of ambiguous sexuality named Gary (played by Billy Kay) who gets passed around the Long Island teen sex circuit like the plague, an Howie, the kid who doesn't know if he's gay, straight, or what. They get their kicks out of breaking into houses. But after one successful break-in between Howie and Gary, in which two expensive pistols are stolen Howie is nearly apprehended his entire life changes.
It seems that Gary knew the man who owned the house that he and Howie broke into (a man named "Big John" played by the indomitable Brian Cox), and when the Big John confronted Gary, Gary told him that it was Howie who took the pistols. Thus Big John sets off to recover his property. Howie retrieves one pistol from Gary's house, but that isn't enough for Big John who tries to seduce Howie. All of this is going on as Howie's father, who has been having non-stop sex with his new girlfriend, is under incitement for a fire in a building in which he had contracted the construction. Howie's father makes a desperate attempt to reach out to his son, as he sees him struggling in school, but is soon arrested.
What follows is a story of love and lust, confused and mistaken sexual identity, revenge, and of course - growing up. Howie's relationship with Big John deepens from one of Big John's lust to Howie's view of Big John as a patriarch in his life, to Howie's lust for someone to love him like his mother did. Though not by any means a heterosexual film, this is not really a "gay film" either. It's not really about pedophiles either, its really just a story of a boy coming to terms with how his life has changed and who he has Become. This is a story with true heart.
Caveat: Definitely go for the unrated version, it was originally (an inappropriately) initially rated NC-17, for mildly obvious reasons, there's no real nudity or sexual activity between minor and minors (or minor and adults, for that matter) and the language is no worse than that of other R-rated films like "The Matrix."
Movie Review: an exceptional movie with characters who defy clear cut labels--this film is art
Summary: 5 Stars
L.I.E. is the coming of age story of young Howie Blitzer--although not necessarily in the usual ways. Howie (Paul Dano) is a 16 year old troubled kid who is mourning the relatively recent death of his mother in a car accident on the L. I. E. (Long Island Expressway), which is nearby the Blitzer home by coincidence. Howie sometimes views life through the L. I. E. as he contemplates how some people travel east on the highway, some people travel west while some roads "lead straight to hell."
Howie mourns his mother; but that's far from the end of his worries. He hangs around with other teenagers who find it thrilling to break into houses and steal things. They don't need the things they steal because they themselves come from wealthy families; but the thrill of it all is like a drug for them. Moreover, Howie's father (Bruce Altman) may live in the same house with his son but they are essentially estranged--they communicate poorly at best and the father is all but completely consumed by serious troubles at work and his girlfriend with whom he spends practically every minute.
Howie sees a possible way out of his pain when he tinkers with the idea of traveling with one of his buddies so they can start a new life; and there are some latent (or not so latent) romantic feelings between the two young men. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned--and pretty soon Howie is left by his father, his buddy who leaves without him and his other buddies conveniently disappear. It is only then that Howie explores a relationship with a much older man named Big John (Brian Cox). Big John has his eyes on Howie and this could definitely complicate things; it seems that Big John wants something back that Howie and his friends stole when they broke into Big John's home one night.
How will Howie find his way to come of age with all this madness around him? He's on his own without much help. Will he ever reconcile with his father? Will he develop a romantic relationship with Big John even though Howie is underage? What if his buddies want to be there for him again? No answers here--watch the movie to find out!
The plot moves along at a good, steady pace without being too fast or too slow; and the acting is truly convincing. When people comment that Michael Cuesta has made an extraordinary motion picture, they are correct. The characters are developed in just the right way and you won't forget this film anytime soon. The subject matter of a grown man having his eyes at young boys is masterfully handled with so much finesse that you actually see several good, redeeming qualities about Big John. This film is art.
The DVD doesn't have too many extras but there are commentaries by Michael Cuesta and Brian Cox. There are three or four brief deleted scenes. However, the film is so good I don't think you'll mind the relative paucity of extras.
Overall, L.I.E. easily succeeds at giving us a striking, memorable portrait of a young man's coming of age. This film is not for family entertainment but it's hardly something for the trashcan. I highly recommend it.
Movie Review: All the light and dark of the heart
Summary: 5 Stars
It is not surprising to me that viewers are so quick to bandy labels around while discussing L.I.E.. Pigeonholes make matters of the heart that are otherwise complicated and hazy, easy to deal with for those who hate to think or be challenged. If that's what the creators of this excellent film wanted to do, they would've issued out black and white cowboy hats to the actors.But this movie is not simplistic. Listening to the commentaries by both the director, Michael Cuesta, and Brian Cox (Big John), I noticed that neither ever utters the word "pedophile" in relation to Big John (In fact, the film itself shows he not only desires young teenagers, but young, adult men of 18-21 range, and women as well). Nor do they peg Howie as a "gay youth"--in fact, they both deny that Howie's sexual identity is set. That's because L.I.E. is not about categories, it is about the complexities of the human heart that lie beneath the surface.
For myself, L.I.E. is about two things: (1) discovering the difference between love and lust, and (2) the fundamental condition of human loneliness and our search for honest intimacy. After the recent death of his mother, Howie has just discovered deep loneliness and is trying to resolve it as fast as he can; running away to California for adventure with a rebellious, sexy friend seems like the magic pill/instant cure for all his problems. As for Big John, years before the time of this film he decided to quench his loneliness in shallow sex with males of various ages, and in creating broad yet shallow relationships with the prominent members of his community. Yet he's never allowed anyone to get inside and really touch his heart, apparently not even his current adult lover/roommate.
Suddenly, Howie is confronted with this man, who unlike Howie's father or friends, has answers to his questions about his worth and place in the world (and also knowledge of sex, which is a big part of life for a teenager). Simultaneously, the once-"Big" John is rendered small and weak in the face of the quiet grandeur and adolescent vulnerability of Howie's gentle, honest nature. For a moment, their lives intersect and neither of them knows quite what to do...both are in foreign territory, and both walk away with something they never had before. Howie walks away with the knowledge of his own value as a human being (hence, he's able to assert himself in confrontation with his father later in the film, and proclaim himself to the world), and John walks away knowing that he's made a permanent and vital difference in the life of another person, and that he's finally loved someone else, truly and completely.
This film should not be missed, misunderstood or pigeonholed and forgotten. It is a boundary-breaker that speaks of the need for love and intimacy that lies most deeply in the human soul, regardless of superficial appearances.
Movie Review: A beautiful film about ugliness
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a beautifully constructed movie. The overt nature of sexuality in the film was overdone, perhaps, but in nearly every instance it seems necessary to the film's integrity. This is a movie about beauty and ugliness - but not just physical beauty, and not just physical ugliness. It is a movie about the aesthetic disposition of the soul, whether or not the soul dares to maintain a challenging and precarious beauty in a brutally ugly world.Promotional materials for L.I.E. intimate that the movie breaks "the last taboo" of Western culture. I found this claim particularly appropriate for such this film, as the film explores the concept of "taboo" in a powerful and convincing way.
This taboo is, of course, pedophilia. It is fascinating how cliché of a figure Big John is at the beginning of the film - an overt appeal by the filmmakers to summon up the viewer's most terrible mental images. But L.I.E. turns this cliché on its head, by demonstrating that this archetypal monster is actually a real human being, with real needs, real humor, real problems, and (God forbid!) a real mother. And anyone who has a sweet old mother, of course, cannot be all bad.
Indeed, Big John isn't all bad. And indeed, Howie isn't all good. In the case of Howie, the writers strike upon another much needed insight into our society: kids aren't built perfect. There is no magic in childhood that gives one the ability to distinguish good from evil, love from hate, life from death. Howie becomes disillusioned about peer friendships, about parental relationships, about sex, and about trust.
And into this situation of Howie's profound disaffectedness, Mr. Pedophile enters. He wants one thing - Howie's body. This is his personal form of evil. But, unpredictably, almost inexplicably, Big John does not act as a further source of disillusionment for Howie. In what seems to be an almost Herculean act of self-control, Big John is the first person to show Howie what it actually means to love - that is, to look out for another person's interests, even at the expense of one's own desires.
The conclusion of this movie points to a major missing component in the modern age: mentoring relationships. Mentoring, in the Greek concept, is meant to foster virtue. In Ancient Greece, intergenerational relationships were given a place in the culture; not for their sexual content, but for their moral content. There is no better moral teacher than the disciplined lover - not in Greece, and not today. The fact that Big John breaks the pattern of his life, and resists the easy indulgence of the moment, is the first real life lesson that poor Howie learns in this movie. The viewer is left hoping that it will not be the last.