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The United States of Leland

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The United States of Leland (2004)

April. 02,2004
|
7
|
R
| Drama Crime
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A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.

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Listonixio
2004/04/02

Fresh and Exciting

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StyleSk8r
2004/04/03

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

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Mandeep Tyson
2004/04/04

The acting in this movie is really good.

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Guillelmina
2004/04/05

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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reneweddan
2004/04/06

Being a fan of Ryan Gosling's work (The Notebook, Half-Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl...) I had to view this film. I believe this film is under-appreciated. Hopefully more will be enticed to view the excellence that surrounds this film, from its all-star cast to the very meaning of the film.The story revolves around the murder of a mentally challenged kid who happens to have a rather large family. The murderer understands others want to know one thing, "why?", and he shares his story to his teacher in jail. The story also involves the remorse both families go through, particularly the victim's family.The film is enjoyable, unique, but dark. It sort of reminded me of the Donnie Darko atmosphere, where the main character is apathetic. The film works together perfectly, but it is a bit tedious at times, which elevated my appreciation of the film.The only part I was completely confused about was when Leland received a pencil and a book... a pencil to a murderer who stabbed the victim... (No this isn't a spoiler, this is the very basis of the film) Altogether, this film works, it's something that should not be overlooked.Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein, Jena Malone, Lena Olin, Kevin Spacey, Michelle Williams, Martin Donovan... must I go on? Look at that awesome cast... all acted well, but in particular, Ryan Gosling and Chris Klein.Enjoy this film for what it is, and enjoy the darkness, but keep in mind the message isn't to do dark things, it simply explains why dark events occur. Appreciate the message, whether you're a pessimist or an optimist, you'll enjoy it.

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BernardoLima
2004/04/07

The United States of Leland is about a meek teenage boy named Leland P. Fitzgerald (Ryan Gosling) who has inexplicably committed a shocking murder. In the wake of the killing, his teacher in prison (Don Cheadle) tries to understand the senseless crime, while the families of the victim and the perpetrator struggle to cope with the aftermath..I just watched The United States of Leland for the second time and it is an outstanding piece of work and it's close to being one of my favorite films of all time. Why it was so poorly received by critics is beyond me because I think it's a good example of great film-making in all accounts. The backdrop of the film is the crime that Leland committed and from then on, the film becomes a character study giving us insight into Leland and also showing the viewer what happened prior to the murder trough flashbacks. But, despite being a character study, the film does so much more then that; it poses very interesting questions about good and evil, about life, about our nature and humanity and so forth. The film was beautifully shot and the soundtrack couldn't be more suiting. These two things combined with an impeccable direction resulted in a great ambiance. The acting was absolutely fantastic with the exceptionally talented Ryan Gosling delivering an Oscar-worthy performance. The entire supporting cast did a good job but if someone hold its own with Gosling, that was Jena Malone. I was very, very impressed with her.This is not a happy film, it's sad and melancholic and that will push some people away. Maybe you have to have gone trough depression or extreme sadness to relate to the film, that would explain why some people just can't connect with this story, I don't know. Either way, I think this is a truly amazing film and I hope Matthew Ryan Hoge returns to the business at some point.9.5/10

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wes-connors
2004/04/08

"After seemingly ordinary 15-year-old Leland (Ryan Gosling) stuns his quiet suburban community with a chilling crime, he is sent to juvenile hall where he meets Pearl (Don Cheadle), a teacher and aspiring write who dreams of making Leland's compelling story into a book. As Pearl digs deeper into Leland's life and the people caught up in it - his mother (Lena Olin), his famous writer-father (Kevin Spacey), and his troubled girlfriend (Jena Malone) - he uncovers Leland's disturbing motive. The tables soon turn when the enigmatic teen forces Pearl to examine his own morally questionable behavior. Climaxing with a shocking collision of violence, understanding, and hope, Leland will take you to states you never imagined," according to the DVD sleeve description.It starts off with the lead character, Mr. Gosling hazily recalling one of the film's crimes - the killing of "retarded" Michael Welch (as Ryan Pollard), the little brother of his junkie girlfriend Jena Malone (as Becky "Beck" Pollard). Gosling doesn't quite remember committing the crime, although no real sense of mystery abounds. "Sometimes the most important stuff goes away," Gosling explains. In any case, you're correct in suspecting cagey Chris Klein (as Allen Harris) is somehow involved. Apparently, the motive is a combination of mercifully ending sadness and parental neglect. The film is most interesting in drawing parallels between the characters played by Gosling and Mr. Klein, two young men finding love and sex with surrogate families.Both Gosling and Klein are clearly too old for their roles; Gosling is supposed to be 15, and Klein calls a 20-year-old drug dealer an "older guy" (in a brief scene, he looks younger than Klein, who beats him for presumably forcing Ms. Malone to take drugs). Top-billed Don Cheadle (as Pearl Madison) isn't the star; rather, he plays a juvenile prison schoolteacher and a aspiring writer who cheats on his girlfriend. Martin Donovan (as Harry Pollard) and Kevin Spacey (as Albert T. Fitzgerald) make a "good dad"/"bad dad" comparison. Director Matthew Ryan Hoge makes a successful first impression, and much about the film is good - but, very little about it makes any sense. "The United States of Leland" could also say something about the country, or not… ***** The United States of Leland (1/18/03) Matthew Ryan Hoge ~ Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein, Jena Malone, Don Cheadle

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2004/04/09

This movie is like reading an 8th grader's goth poetry: self-important, self-indulgent, and hyper dramatic, death is so romantic, heroin use is so cool, and I'm so deep and important because I'm sad. Actually, it's worse than reading junior high goth poetry.I am a huge fan of Ryan Gosling and he was terrible here. It's a minor feat to make Gosling unwatchable, but they did it. This film is not deep or profound, but indulgent and false. I challenge anyone to find a more clichéd role in film than Kevin Spacey's writer character who abandons his son, then sits in a hotel bar with a bottle of scotch solo, or worse, sits in his car with a voice recorder and says, "there was a time when we moved through life, with something like electricity..." . Laughable.Here's the story for you: Leland, a weird, squeaky voiced misfit who appears to be missing a few points of articulation in his body (Gosling) begins to date a super cool hipster music junkie (Mallone) and then she dumps him. This sends Gosling out of orbit, and he stabs to death Mallone's retarded brother. Then Leland goes to juvie and has really deep conversations with Don Cheadle and another detainee. Cheadle is a failed writer who wants to write about Leland because he's so fascinating, and who can argue that a semi-retarded squeaky voiced kid shuffling his feet and looking like he has to take a dump is not fascinating? Cheadle confronts Leland's missing dad, Spacey, cheats on his girlfriend because he wants to do bad things and gains Insight. Leland writes a surefire best-seller diary and gives it to Cheadle, then gets knifed in the yard by Chris Klein. Klein is the live-in boyfriend of Mallone's sister. He gets dumped, and then overwhelmed when Leland knifes the kid, so decides to get locked up in juvie to have a go at Leland. Wow, all these parts, these machinations, it's like a Swiss watch! Um... no.When Klein finally knifes Leland, he says off-camera "it's over." But it isn't. You still have to watch some closeups of Leland, because he's so profound, and tragic, and he's like a saint or an angel come to earth to tell us about our sad lives. That's what having your first girlfriend dump you will do. You'll all go out and stab retarded kids in the park, because, see, life is so heavy and we're all ignoring the sadness.Meanwhile, the characters all repeat dialogue about "making mistakes" and "doing nothing wrong" and somewhere buried in all this is the conceit that we all make mistakes. WOW, you didn't see that one coming, did you?This movie is not good. Don't waste your time.

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