Michael Cuesta Is Back Home With a New Film, "Roadie" Magnet Releasing CROSSROADS Ron Eldard, near right, and Bobby Cannavale in a scene from "Roadie," Michael Cuesta's new film. "I FINALLY am doing my least dark film," Michael Cuesta said recently in the living room of his spacious home here. Of course, "least dark" is a relative term, especially given Mr. Cuesta's reputation as a director and producer with a penchant for the off-kilter. The characters he has helped bring to life in film and on TV include an oddly sympathetic pedophile, a serial killer with scruples, a secretly bipolar C.I.A. agent and the Marine ex-P.O.W. she tracks. But with his new movie, "Roadie," which opens on Long Island on Jan. 20 at the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington, he has taken a different tack. No lethal sociopaths stalk its streets; the main character, Jimmy Testagross (played by Ron Eldard), is an overweight, middle-aged rock roadie, fired after 26 years of touring with the band Blue Oyster Cult. Returning to his childhood home in Forest Hills, Queens, he struggles to let go of the past. The film also stars Bobby Cannavale and Jill Hennessy as a couple from Jimmy's high school years, and Lois Smith as his mother. "Roadie," which Mr. Cuesta directed and wrote with his brother Gerald, is about "holding onto a dream, and not being aware of its expiration date," he said. It's also about aging, said the filmmaker, 48, and about grappling with "this idea of relative success. How do you define "successful"?" Mr. Cuesta is likely to explore such themes on Jan. 21, when he appears at the Cinema Arts Center to talk about "Roadie." The event starts at 7:30 p.m. and will include a screening of the film, which opened in New York on Jan. 6 and runs at the Center through Jan. 26. Mr. Cuesta, who grew up in Dix Hills, may also talk about Blue Oyster Cult, the heavy-metal band that got its start on Long Island and whose music figures in the movie. "We grew up listening to them," said Mr. Cuesta, whose character Jimmy calls them "the thinking man's metal." Mr. Cuesta may also be asked about his TV credits, which include "Six Feet Under" and "True Blood" on HBO and two hits on Showtime: the serial-killer saga "Dexter" (during its first season); and the lavishly praised new thriller "Homeland," which stars Claire Danes as an emotionally troubled C.I.A. agent and Damian Lewis as the Marine ex-prisoner of war she is certain is a terrorist. The two Showtime series "are the shows I have the biggest footprint on, because I did the pilots," said Mr. Cuesta, who is also an executive producer of "Homeland." Besides the pilot, he directed several other episodes of the show, including the much-talked-about season finale. "I got involved with "Homeland" because of "Dexter," " Mr. Cuesta said. They said, we have another dark, complicated show, with antiheroes. Who do they call? They call Cuesta. Mr. Cuesta's name has been linked to the darkly unconventional since his debut feature, "L.I.E," which was released in 2001. By then, he had already carved out successful careers as a photographer and as a director of TV commercials. The film attracted attention (and controversy) for its empathetic portrait of a pedophile - at once father figure and predator - who cruises rest stops of the Long Island Expressway to pick up young men; the movie, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, was also lauded for its understanding portrayal of emotionally vulnerable youths. " "L.I.E." developed just from growing up on Long Island, knowing kids who broke into houses - little marginal criminals," said Mr. Cuesta, who co-wrote "L.I.E." (with Gerald Cuesta and Stephen M. Ryder) and directed the film. As a child, he said, he and his friends heard of seamy activities along the expressway. As for "Big John," the pedophile, he added, "We knew a guy like that; that's all I'll say." Neither he nor anyone in his crowd was personally victimized by the man, Mr. Cuesta said. Mr. Cuesta has also directed two other features, "Twelve and Holding" and "Tell Tale." These days, a good deal of his time is devoted to "Homeland," which is filmed in Charlotte, N.C. At home in Huntington Bay, he lives with his wife, Jacqueline, 47, and children, Emilio, 16, and Mina, 12. For the second season of "Homeland," Mr. Cuesta said, he will continue as an executive producer and direct the premiere and the finale, along with some other episodes. And no, he won't reveal who the C.I.A. mole is, or where Sergeant Brody's loyalties really lie. It's the show's very ambiguity, he said, that makes it timely: "It explores our response to 9/11 in shades of gray, not black and white." In "Roadie," the filmmaker also aims for shades of gray. Jimmy Testagross may or may not fully vanquish his demons, but he might yet make something better of himself. "It's O.K. to have a foot in the past," Mr. Cuesta said, "as long as you have a foot in the future." "Roadie" will be screened at the Cinema Arts Center, 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, from Jan. 20 to 26. The filmmaker, Michael Cuesta, will appear at the screening on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $13. Information: (631) 423-7611; cinemaartscentre.org/events.