People are voting emotionally.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Blistering performances.

I just want to comment about the ending, which many people ( Roger Ebert among them) didn't like.SPOILERS!!! First off, we must realize that Big John is not really a "pedophile"... that is a lover of boys. He is a lover of adolescents... the proper term would be "Ephebophile". However, since common usage has taken over, I will use the term "pedophile" here although it is not correct.There are two things I thought were good about the ending. First, it reminds us of the negative possibilities to Big John's way of living his desire for young men - in that he leads young men on, but ultimately will ditch them when they become too "old" for him.It is interesting to note that the young man who kills him does so out of rage from jealousy. He LOVES Big John, and wants his attentions for himself.Now this is already a major point to drive home to the movie-going public. Generally, they have been brought up to think that these boys are VICTIMS... they forget that the boys sometimes are HAPPY to be in the relationship (as long as it is working). The fact that they might get ditched for someone else is NOT just a problem with pedophiles; it happens at some point in almost any love affair. People seem to forget that often what keeps these kids with the older man is love... plain and simple.Yes, Big John is exploiting the kid who kills him - but that's not why the kid does what he does.Second reason why I think the ending is good: Most people generally think that the Big Johns in this world deserve to die. What they forget is the effect the imprisonment, or simply the end of the relationship might have on the kids in question. Here, Howie has just learned that his Dad is in jail. His mum is dead. The only person who seems to want to help him is Big John... in fact, the only STABILITY that Howie might just find in this world (now that his best friend has left him) is, once again, Big John. When Big John gets shot dead, my first reaction was "Omigod, NOW what will happen to Howie?" I think that this is an amazing ending, because despite all the negatives we might have about pedophiles in general, in THIS case we are suddenly forced to admit that Big John's death will be BAD for the kid, rather than good.I think that this is the first film that has ever managed to portray a pedophile in a fair light. It makes for reasoned thought as opposed to knee-jerk reactions. Bravo!

L.I.E. is a daring, splendidly acted, masterpiece. Brian Cox is a genius. Cox boldly takes on the role of Big John, a retired Marine and Vietnam vet, who just happens to have a love for teenage boys. Before seeing this movie I expected Big Johns character to be nothing less than a monster. I was pleasantly surprised. Big John shows us just how human a monster can be. After hunting down unlikely thief Howie Blitzer to the tune of "The Hurdy Gurdy Man," Big John takes the needy and curious teen under his wing. The unusual duo discover truths about themselves and each other that will alter the course of both their lives forever. A well-paced film, I was constantly eager to see what would happen next. Never crude or blatant for the sake of being shocking, L.I.E. creates a plausible story that doesn't need to rely on graphic material to get it's point across. L.I.E. definitely has a seat on my top ten list. This film tackles a subject seldom seen on the screen, and it pulls it off with class. Beautifully scripted, Big John is more than convincing as a retired Marine, caring father figure, and a human "monster," who just happens to have a love for teenage boys. See it today.

L.I.E THE BEST MOVIE EVER. Hey I'm Joel from Toronto Ontario Canada I'm 18 and i was whouldring if any one know's Howie's E-mail because i want to Congratulat him on a really good movie it really reached me he is just like me and one day hopefully i can get a hold of him i seen the movie in 2001 and now it's 2007 it's really been a long time but the movie is still in my mind so if any one can help me out and get my e-mail to Howie that would be greatly aperhated THANK U SO MUCH CAN'T WAIT TO TALK TO HIM ABOUT THE Movie MY E-MAIL IS [email protected] plz send me back a messege thank u so much thanks agine bye for now.

I've practically lived this film so I know what it portray's isn't exploitive or audacious in the negative sense. It's a simple story of a kid growing up in the suburbs. The meaninglessness and frustration of this way of life I felt was painted nicely by the cinematographer and the director. The omnipotent lukewarm attempts by the high school and social structure were represented in a fair manner. It's a story of a teenager dealing with many things straight on. This movie is really an interesting look into modern western life as seen by a young kid. The movie draw's you in like all good film-making should. The acting is great. The story will hold your attention and be engaging to you regardless of your childhood. The only stumbling blocks will be your own pretenses or cynicism. It's not a complex story on the surface but everything that isn't spelled out is where the weight of the film resides.