LIE is an absorbing, gut-wrenching film that follows the shallow, delinquent lives of four teen buddies. Alas, the reason that these kids do whatever they please is because their parents are completely blind ("Not MY child!") Howie Blitzer (Paul Franklin Dano, who is amazing) has had a hard time dealing with the death of his mother, who was killed in a car wreck on the Long Island Expressway. (Howie says that he hopes that the LIE doesn't take him. As Howie puts it, "LIE..Long Island Expressway..you got your lanes going west, you got your lanes going north, and you got your lanes going straight to hell.") Howie's dad is a total prick. He's a construction worker who is in big trouble because buildings that he supervised have burned down; turns out that Howie's dad used cheap aluminum wire to save costs. To escape from his crazy dad, Howie finds comfort in his best friend, Gary, (Billy Kay.) Howie has always been "unsure" of his sexuality, and he has always had a crush on Gary, who is a blue-eyed, blonde-haired charmer. Howie, however, does not know that Gary is a male prostitute. Gary suggests to Howie that they break into a luxurious house and steal all the valuables. Howie and Gary bust out a basement window, and grab some guns, while the owner of the house, child molester Big John, runs to the basement and leaps at Howie, only managing to rip off a piece of Howie's back pocket. The plot thickens when we learn that Gary has been having sex with Big John for years. Seems Gary has run home with both of the guns, and calls a cab to drive him to California. Gary;s got both guns. Howie is nervous when he tells Big John that he doesn't have either of the guns. Howie's dad is in prison and will be there for a while. Will Big John become a father figure for little Howie Blitzer? At the end of the film, Howie goes to visit his dad in prison - BRIEFLY and RELUCTANTLY. Howie's last word to his dad - "I love you,dad. But don't ever f***ing hit me again." In the final scene, pedophile Big John is brutally murdered to death by an ex-teen lover. THESE ARE OUR KIDS AND PARENTS!
