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Kevin Spacey produced this psychological drama about a quiet, unassuming 15-year-old, Leland Fitzgerald (Ryan Gosling), who shocks his family and community by committing the brutal and seemingly senseless murder of the disabled younger brother of his junkie girlfriend, Becky (Jena Malone). After being arrested and sent to a juvenile detention centre, he comes into contact with prison writing teacher Pearl Madison (Don Cheadle), who becomes inspired to write about the events in Leland's life - especially when he discovers that Leland's father is the world-famous novelist Albert Fitzgerald (Spacey). The film premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By pointone
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
Centered around the life of 16 year old Leland (Ryan Gosling) in prison for murdering a mentally retarded boy and his interactions with his prison school teacher Pearl Madison (Don Cheadle) we are drawn into the cold unemotional world of Leland as Pearl studies him for a book he intends to write.
Leland is the icy centre of the grief and anger he has caused. His mother (Lela Olin) is guilt ridden; his novelist father (Kevin Spacey) all Leland's life has been accepting but completely isolated from his son, the family of his victim is distraught.
We see a caring but still detached side of Leland in his relationship with his girl friend (Jena Malone) who is fighting drug addiction and leans on him for support.
This is a powerful drama exploring the motives of all concerned deeply, and above all the detached indifference of the psychopathic killer.
Fine acting from all together with great direction and atmospheric photography add up to an absorbing film.
Leland is the icy centre of the grief and anger he has caused. His mother (Lela Olin) is guilt ridden; his novelist father (Kevin Spacey) all Leland's life has been accepting but completely isolated from his son, the family of his victim is distraught.
We see a caring but still detached side of Leland in his relationship with his girl friend (Jena Malone) who is fighting drug addiction and leans on him for support.
This is a powerful drama exploring the motives of all concerned deeply, and above all the detached indifference of the psychopathic killer.
Fine acting from all together with great direction and atmospheric photography add up to an absorbing film.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By E. WISE
Format:DVD
The United States Of Leland is some what a hidden Gem in my opinion, it's an original film and well written to, in a time where we are swamped with sequels, remakes and adaptions of popular books.
We see Ryan talk about his crime, he has no answer, only how he felt, we see how the crime he has commited has affected everyone around him directly. This notion is quite haunting but the film carries a distinct lack of emotion. I did find it hard to sympathise or dislike charcaters, but this should really not deter from the overall film, as it does make you think.
There are good performances from Ryan Gosling, and Don Cheadle, while Kevin Spacey plays a solid supporting role as Leland's absent father. It was also nice to see Chris Klien in a slightly different role to the floppy haired, sensitive jock.
This film depsite it's context is very pleasent and deifnatly worth a watch, also a little beautiful on some level. Among other things is raises intresting questions and thoughts about our morales as people.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The United States Of Leland is part of the growing trend whereby very successful Hollywood actors part take in independent films (Kevin Spacey, Don Cheadle).
Presuming you've read the synopsis I'll go on to critique.
After committing a murder Leland is far from remorseful, going as far to try & justify his actions to others. Although this is slightly unusual, I have a sympathy for Leland & can understand why he did it (not that I agree with it). He isn'tjust some out of hand teenager venting his anger, he has his reasons for doing it, not just to get sick kicks.
What's bad about the movie is the slow pace at which it unravells, it can be very boring with some extrememly long dialogue sequences, like hte idrector presumed the viewer wasn't smart enough to ocme to their own conclusions or make their own assumptions. Other than that it is an insightful, intriguing movie that has a very rare quality that most 'Hollywood Independent' movie fail to contrive.
In ocnclusion a good movie worth watching, you may find it boring in parts, but hang in there, it's worth it!
Presuming you've read the synopsis I'll go on to critique.
After committing a murder Leland is far from remorseful, going as far to try & justify his actions to others. Although this is slightly unusual, I have a sympathy for Leland & can understand why he did it (not that I agree with it). He isn'tjust some out of hand teenager venting his anger, he has his reasons for doing it, not just to get sick kicks.
What's bad about the movie is the slow pace at which it unravells, it can be very boring with some extrememly long dialogue sequences, like hte idrector presumed the viewer wasn't smart enough to ocme to their own conclusions or make their own assumptions. Other than that it is an insightful, intriguing movie that has a very rare quality that most 'Hollywood Independent' movie fail to contrive.
In ocnclusion a good movie worth watching, you may find it boring in parts, but hang in there, it's worth it!
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3.9 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than expected!
Ryan Gosling has long since been one of my favourite actors. I purchased 'The United States Of Leland' up at a cheap price, like a previous reviewer, I was excepting an average... Read more
Published 2 months ago by ReviewBlog51
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant.
I love Ryan Gosling, no homo. I paid around £3 for this film including P&P, I was expecting an average film but was blown away when I saw it. Read more
Published 14 months ago by PK22
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good
I bought it because of Ryan Gosling. Even in the beginning of his career you can see how talanted he was. That`s why he is a great actor now. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Anna
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dull, forced and unoriginal.
After brutally stabbing to death the mentally retarded younger brother of his ex-girlfriend, sixteen year old Leland P. Read more
Published on 17 July 2010 by Ernie
4.0 out of 5 stars
A dark, intense film with a strong ending
This film gets you thinking about how diverse the human mind can be, it explores various human relationships and how people deal with the same tragedy very differently. Read more
Published on 17 May 2009 by Malved
4.0 out of 5 stars
Holden Caulderisms???
Ok, so this kinda took me by surprise, spent the first 3/4 of this just being a little unimpressed, when finally the last part of this comes in with such gravitas it just totally... Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2008 by Ben J. Johnson
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dull, dull, dull
The worst film I've seen since "Gerry".
Like watching paint dry but without the solvent fumes to keep you amused.
Like watching paint dry but without the solvent fumes to keep you amused.
Published on 10 July 2006 by A. Dale
5.0 out of 5 stars
marvellous hidden gem
I first got wind of this film because i was searching for all the movies kevin spacey was in that i hadnt seen. Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2006 by A. fordham
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best kept secret...
This movie was such a good find. Unusual and challenging, darkly humourous in places and fearless in approach. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2005 by Tanya
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