Themes: Death of a Child, Murder Investigations, Writer's Life
Main Cast: Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein, Jena Malone, Lena Olin
Release Year: 2002
Country: US
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Produced by Kevin Spacey, The United States of Leland is a psychological drama concerning the aftereffects of a brutal murder. It's also the first big-studio theatrical release for writer/director Matthew Ryan Hoge, whose previous work consists of the independent comedy Self Storage. Ryan Gosling plays Leland, an imprisoned teenager doing time for the stabbing murder of a disabled boy. Prison writing teacher Pearl Madison (Don Cheadle) gets caught up in the story with the intention of making a book out of it, especially when he finds out that Leland's father is the famous novelist Albert Fitzgerald (Spacey). Pearl's investigation uncovers some of the details and effects of the murder for everyone involved, including the victim's parents, Harry (Martin Donovan) and Karen Pollard (Ann Magnuson). Jena Malone plays Becky, the teenage junkie who is both Leland's ex-girlfriend and the victim's sister. The situation also complicates the relationship between Becky's older sister, Jennifer (Michelle Williams), and her sensitive boyfriend, Allen (Chris Klein). The United States of Leland premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
The Believer's Ryan Gosling plays another troubled teen in The United States of Leland, but there's a huge gulf in realism between the two roles. Gosling's skinhead Danny Balint may have been hard to watch, but he was always "believe"-able, as it were. Gosling's Leland Fitzgerald is a much more pleasant misfit, a sensitive intellectual who voices life observations in a placid suburban drawl. But he kills the mentally handicapped brother of his girlfriend for reasons he can't explain, which makes his character kind of bogus, a cinematic construct put in place to propel an experiment involving the vagaries of teen angst and family dysfunction. The United States of Leland certainly gets caught up in concept at the expense of execution, but writer/director Matthew Ryan Hoge does probe some interesting if overburdened ideas in his chosen topic. Hoge's evident talent excuses some of his foolhardy rookie ambitiousness, salvaging what was considered a mild failure even in its most favorable notices. Producer Kevin Spacey has assembled an able cast, including an underdog performer submitting his personal best: American Pie's Chris Klein, previously considered a vapid Keanu Reeves type, who muscles up for some nuanced work. Don Cheadle and Spacey himself are also effective, playing, respectively, the juvy teacher who's counseling/exploiting Leland and his arrogantly absent novelist father, who doomed Leland to view fractured human relationships with a sadness that eventually overwhelms him. In the cinema of post-Columbine teen wackos, The United States of Leland shares more territory with a thoughtful character study like Donnie Darko (including actress Jena Malone) than a randomness-of-it-all project like Gus Van Sant's Elephant. Unfortunately, the fact that it's stagy to the point of distraction limits its usefulness. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Emily Schweber - Casting, Genevieve Tyrrell - Costume Designer, William Paul Clark - First Assistant Director, Matthew Ryan Hoge - Director, Jeff Betancourt - Editor, Mark Damon - Executive Producer, Sammy Lee - Executive Producer, Stewart Hall - Executive Producer, Kieron Estrada - Location Manager, Jeremy Enigk - Composer (Music Score), Edward Mcavoy - Production Designer, James Glennon - Cinematographer, Kevin Spacey - Producer, Bernie Morris - Producer, Palmer West - Producer, Jonah Smith - Producer, Richard van Dyke - Sound/Sound Designer, Matthew Ryan Hoge - Screenwriter
The United States of Leland is a 2003drama film by director Matthew Ryan Hoge and producer Kevin Spacey about a meek teenaged boy named Leland P. Fitzgerald (Ryan Gosling) who has inexplicably committed a shocking murder. In the wake of the killing, his teacher in prison tries to understand the senseless crime, while the families of the victim and the perpetrator struggle to cope with the aftermath.
The film begins with a flashback narrated by Leland P. Fitzgerald (Gosling), describing how he couldn't remember the details of the day that he killed a mentally retarded boy named Ryan Pollard (Welch). Leland is arrested while the rest of the town reacts with shock to the senseless murder. Ryan's parents (Donovan and Magnuson), sisters Becky (Malone) and Julie (Williams), as well as Julie's live-in boyfriend Allen (Klein) grieve the loss of their loved one. Leland's divorced mother (Olin) is desperate to see her son, while his father, famous writer Albert Fitzgerald (Spacey), discovers his son's fate in a newspaper and returns home to be there for the trial.
While in juvenile hall, Leland is schooled by teacher Pearl Madison (Cheadle), an aspiring writer who is searching for a breakthrough story. Like many others at the prison, Pearl senses there is something different about the emotionally detached Leland, and helps him circumvent the prison rules so he can keep a journal. While his girlfriend is out of town in Los Angeles, Pearl sleeps with a coworker and tells her that he is going to write a book about Leland.
Through his discussions with Pearl, Leland reveals his childhood memories such as dealing with sadness at his grandmother's funeral and traveling long distances to visit his father. One time, he decided to stay in New York rather than continue on to see his father. After he couldn't find a hotel to sleep in, a kindhearted family decided to take him in for his stay. He continued to visit the family over the years, and was especially captivated by the mother Mrs. Calderon (Sherilyn Fenn). The two also discuss Leland's history with Becky, Ryan's sister. He met her innocently at a record store and began regularly walking home with her and Ryan after school. They grew to love each other, and Leland recalled a time when Becky asked him to promise her "everything will be alright", despite his objections that he had no control over bad things that could happen. As she explained, sometimes it's just nice to hear things one hopes to be true.
Pearl covertly arranges a meeting with Leland's father at his hotel. After he asks for more information on his family's past, Albert realizes Pearl is researching for his book and refuses to let his son be exploited - something he is guilty of himself. He eventually tells the prison supervisor about Pearl's prohibited meetings with Leland, leading him to be reassigned to another section of the prison.
Leland discovered through Allen that Becky had been involved with drugs and a dealer named Kevin who was due to be released from prison soon. Becky, still addicted to heroin, sees Kevin and decides to end it with Leland. In a rare display of emotion, he argues with her, but ultimately realizes the futility of anything he can do or say to change her mind.
Pearl begins to realize the implications of his sexual indiscretion through his discussions with Leland, and admits that he is a bastard. Eventually, his girlfriend discovers his tryst and they have a fight over the phone. Meanwhile, Julie decides to break up with Allen and doesn't want him to attend her first choice college. Brokenhearted, he holds up an auto repair shop and allows himself to get arrested in front of Julie. He is sent to the same juvenile hall as Leland, where he steals a knife (from Pearl) and kills Leland in the prison yard as revenge for what he did to the Pollard family.
Pearl flies to LA to reconcile with his girlfriend and reads Leland's final entries in his journal. On one of his return trips to New York, Leland discovered Mrs. Calderon divorced her husband and the spark for life she had before was gone. He began noticing a sadness in everyone around him, causing him to be dejected. He even felt Ryan was miserable with his own situation. As the two walked home from school, Ryan became frustrated with an obstacle on the bike path. Leland helped him off his bike, gave him a hug, and whispered in his ear that everything was going to be alright.
