ESSENTIAL VIEWING: L.I.E. (2001)

“A really important film for me,” recalls Cox of Michael Cuesta’s unsparing drama L.I.E.. His fearless take on middle-aged pederast – or “chickenhawk” - Big John Harrigan came against the advice of colleagues who warned of the adverse effect the part would have on his career… as if playing a man would preys on teenage boys while pretending to be a pillar of his community could possibly alienate audiences. But then, as is his wont, the actor manages to make the character just sympathetic enough to keep him from driving moviegoers into the nearest Kevin Bacon psychodrama. He and a young Paul Dano, the teen tearaway he strikes up a friendship with, are joint MVPs in an underseen gem.