Critic Reviews

L.I.E. (2001) Rank 5 Reviews

Expert Review Summary
Movie critics combined give L.I.E. (2001) a score of 2.8754 out of 4
based on (121) reviews
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Reviews by Score:
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Toronto Star (Peter Howell)Toronto Star (Peter Howell)
Cuesta never gives us the satisfaction of fulfilling our expectations; instead he gives us a movie that we can ponder long the road takes its final turn. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Toronto Star (Peter Howell)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for hybridmagazine.com hybridmagazine.com
With L.I.E., first-time writer/director Michael Cuesta recounts a wonderful coming-of-age story concerning a boy—Howie Blitzer (Dano)—who, having nearly lost everything, finds himself in a state of constant uncertainty with only one person to turn ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at hybridmagazine.com
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Matinee Magazine (Jason Clark)Matinee Magazine (Jason Clark)
What makes L.I.E an especially arresting indie film is that it keeps pulling the rug out from under you in terms of where it's heading. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Matinee Magazine (Jason Clark)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for FilmFestivals.com (Moira Sullivan)FilmFestivals.com (Moira Sullivan)
Cuesta has succeeded in making a clear and captivating narrative involving the issues of trust, loss and deceit, all of which take place within the space of a week. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at FilmFestivals.com (Moira Sullivan)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.64 out of 4 stars for Portland Oregonian (Kim Morgan)Portland Oregonian (Kim Morgan)
An achievement of accomplished filmmaking and superb acting, L.I.E. puts you in the tough spot of unraveling how you feel about what you've viewed. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Portland Oregonian (Kim Morgan)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for New Times (L.A.) (Bill Gallo)New Times (L.A.) (Bill Gallo)
Despite a little rough stuff here and there, this is one of the more insightful and affecting teen-trauma films of recent years. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at New Times (L.A.) (Bill Gallo)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Washington Post (Rita Kempley)Washington Post (Rita Kempley)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
It's a powerful and provocative achievement from a first-time filmmaker of enormous promise. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
Dano is a real find in this daunting role about a teenager's identity crisis. The subject of the movie is dicey but ultimately deeply rewarding. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.28 out of 4 stars for San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
More than anything else, Howie Blitzer dreams of escaping his middle-class suburb. His mother has recently died, his dad doesn't know how to talk to him and the pressures of hiding his artistic bent and sexual ambiguity under a cool veneer are wearing ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Baseline.Hollywood.com (Ted Murphy)Baseline.Hollywood.com (Ted Murphy)
... the characters are so well-drawn and well-acted and the ideas raised are provocative without being overly exploitive. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Baseline.Hollywood.com (Ted Murphy)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
L.I.E. has embraced tragedy, folly, perversity and outrageous dark humor. Like "Happiness" and "American Beauty," it takes an unflinching look at the darker aspects of life in American suburbia. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for New York Times (A.O. Scott)New York Times (A.O. Scott)
At its best, L.I.E. ... offers a rich, dark, bitter slice of contemporary life. But the film's arty embellishments undermine its bleak vision, making it, in the end, a little too easy to take. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at New York Times (A.O. Scott)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for The New York Times (A.O. Scott)The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
At its best, L.I.E. offers a rich, dark, bitter slice of contemporary life. But the film's arty embellishments undermine its bleak vision, making it, in the end, a little too easy to take. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Paula Nechak)Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Paula Nechak)
An original, well-crafted plea that uses restraint instead of titillation to make a cautionary tale that aches with pathos and power. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Paula Nechak)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
A disturbing and provocative study of adolescence and isolation. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
A mature, insightful and extremely well-acted study of a boy at a crossroads in his life, and a doomed, tortured man who, consciously or not, longs for some kind of redemption, before it's too late. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
A disturbing and provocative study of adolescence and isolation. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
You know you're in the hands of a born filmmaker when he floods a scene with danger and excitement and, at the same time, tempers it with something more delicate -- a languor of the everyday. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
The ending is a cheap shot. An inconclusive ending would have been better, and perhaps more honest. The movie and the ending have so little in common that it's as if the last scene is spliced in from a different film. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for watchingmovies.com (Rob McKinnon)watchingmovies.com (Rob McKinnon)
It’s a marvelous example of an intelligently conceived and executed, character-driven film. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at watchingmovies.com (Rob McKinnon)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Movie Habit (Pablo Kjolseth)Movie Habit (Pablo Kjolseth)
Nothing ever gets too out-of-hand, but stuff bordering on the taboo gets skirted enough times to make the less hardy viewer cringe. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Movie Habit (Pablo Kjolseth)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Some pederasts are besotted by sentimentality, seeing their transgression through a misty-eyed desire to be understood. The popular arts usually paint them as monsters, and even a great novel like Michel Tournier's The Ogre goes straight for a link betwee ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.92 out of 4 stars for Popkorn Junkie's review of L.I.E.Popkorn Junkie's review of L.I.E.
The title of this movie "L.I.E." stands for two things I think. First, the initials stand for Long Island Expressway where the film takes place. The second is the central theme of all the lies which most of the characters live as well as to suggest ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Popkorn Junkie's review of L.I.E.
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.80 out of 4 stars for TV Guide (Ken Fox)TV Guide (Ken Fox)
The subject matter is certainly controversial -- it's not every day that we see a sympathetic portrayal of a pedophile -- but Cuesta avoids the taint of salaciousness, thanks in large part to a brilliant performance from Cox. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at TV Guide (Ken Fox)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.80 out of 4 stars for Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.68 out of 4 stars for Austin Chronicle (Marrit Ingman)Austin Chronicle (Marrit Ingman)
A paradox, balancing the contradictions and ambiguities of its characters and setting with a careful hand that rarely falters, even though the film seems dramatically thin at times. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marrit Ingman)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.50 out of 4 stars for Future Movies (Nik Huggins)Future Movies (Nik Huggins)
Since his directorial debut in 1971 with Play Misty for Me, Clint Eastwood has managed to convince a lot of otherwise discerning people that his plodding, juiceless movies—which manage to be simultaneously laid-back and heavy-handed—are the work of a ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Future Movies (Nik Huggins)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.40 out of 4 stars for Salon (Charles Taylor)Salon (Charles Taylor)
Though I admire much of what Cuesta does in L.I.E., the film didn't give me much pleasure. I didn't find it unpleasant or repulsive; it's just that I felt he was too much outside the story. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Salon (Charles Taylor)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.40 out of 4 stars for Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.40 out of 4 stars for RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (Harry Guerin)RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (Harry Guerin)
A story which never resorts to sensationalism in its troubling study of people wanting to find a way out. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (Harry Guerin)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.25 out of 4 stars for Reel Movie Critic (Breada Sexton)Reel Movie Critic (Breada Sexton)
Howie lives in a well-to-do environment. His father owns a construction company and appears fairly wealthy and extravagant. A sexpot girlfriend seems to live with them, but has probably never said a word to Howie. Howie's closest friend is Gary ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Reel Movie Critic (Breada Sexton)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.25 out of 4 stars for Salon.com (Charles Taylor)Salon.com (Charles Taylor)
"L.I.E." (which stands for Long Island Expressway) is, thankfully, not as ordinary as its title. This first film, directed by Michael Cuesta (who wrote the script with Stephen M. Ryder), takes on a "transgressive" subject, a 14-year-old boy's ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Salon.com (Charles Taylor)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for New York Post (Lou Lumenick)New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
Ultimately offers little satisfaction outside of the strong performances. ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for Dave's Other Movie Log ReviewDave's Other Movie Log Review
The scenario that comes decked out with a layer of parapsychological varnish in Hearts in Atlantis appears in its more secular incarnation in L.I.E., directed by Michael Cuesta, as the tale of a sensitive adolescent male going through an identity crisis ...read the complete L.I.E. movie review at Dave's Other Movie Log Review
L.I.E. (2001) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
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Ratings and rankings are based on number of movie, review scores, awards & other criteria.
Overall Rating:
2.9363
L.I.E. (2001) is ranked overall as  out of 4 stars
Avg Critic Score:
2.8754
L.I.E. (2001) is ranked overall as  out of 4 stars
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