Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by clarkjohnsen (R) on September 25, 2001 at 14:46:42

...and maybe have to confess I'm not grown-up enough for it. I was profoundly affected, squirming in my seat for several minutes -- I had no idea what this, um, class of entertainment could provide.

The movie was L.I.E. That's for Long Island Expressway. It has no violence, no T&A, no sex act and not a heckload of profanity -- that, mostly among teenage boys saying "f**k" a lot, as I'm told they do. (One of the boys even reveals how he hates it!)

Two roles are superbly acted (Brian Cox and Paul Franklin Dana), they rest are very, very good. The writing is... OK, also superb. The direction and photography, ditto. And the editing... well, one skillfully-inserted 3-second shot pretty much predicts the tragedy that will soon unfold, and you do not feel cheated of the discovery yourself.

Not for one other moment do you know where this movie is headed. You just gotta sit there and take it. L.I.E. is totally *sui generis*.

So why the NC-17? Hmmm?...

Because it breaks a screen taboo! And here we thought, there weren't any left.

See it, or buy it!

clark

PS And it's a friggin' shame that the very people who should see this cautionary masterpiece, are excluded.