Leland P. Fitzgerald (played by Ryan Gosling) is the alienated child of a distant mother and an absent father (Kevin Spacey). But at the tender age of 15, he commits a senseless murder by stabbing a retarded kid 20 times, an event that shocks his community, affecting both his victim's family and that of his own. After being arrested and imprisoned in a juvenile detention facility, Leland comes in contact with an aspiring writer and prison teacher by the name of Pearl Madison (Don Cheadle). As Madison delves into the reasons behind Leland's actions, he also sees an opportunity for a career-making book, especially since the boy's son is a world renowned author. Catching interest in the boy, he soon becomes his friend and gets a good look at what the United States of Leland is all about. First of all I'd like to say that this isn't the kind of film that I usually watch. Too much focus on the inner worlds of the characters and not enough on story or fancy technical aspects of film-making. But despite that, I found this film quite watchable.
Ryan Gosling does a fine job with the role of Leland. What is interesting to note is that even though he's supposed to be 15 years old in this film, the actor was at the time of filming 22. That is what impressed me the most- how he had managed to be and portray the character he was supposed to be. It seems that even Leland himself doesn't know why he committed the crime. Throughout the film, we get to know him better as it the story jumps back and forth in time from the prison to the time before the murder. At times Leland becomes and almost Hannibal Lecter-like character by making his teacher and interviewer Pearl Madison confront the problems in his own personal life. What annoyed me was how they had made this teenage boy into a know-it-all philosopher giving lessons on life and especially his big moralizing speech at the end. And of course they couldn't have done without the very clichéd having to kill him at the end part. All in all, I have to say that I never cared much for Leland's character. Too confusing, illogical and not very interesting at all.
Don Cheadle does a pretty good job as Pearl Madison, the author and teacher who wavers between wanting to exploit Leland and wanting to really get to know him. At the same time he has some issues in his personal life that he needs to get solved.
The real treat in this film was Kevin Spacey who is also one of my favorite actors. His role as Leland's distant father is small but what we see of him and especially his lines are just pure gold.
The film was directed by a virtual nobody by the name of Matthew Ryan Hoge. This is his second film, the first being a flick by the name of Self Storage. He gives the film a calm pace which lead me to the point that I didn't really care if I finished it or not. The cinematography is nothing to brag about but for a film like this, a subtle approach was more appropriate. What annoyed me was that the version we saw was in that annoying 4:3 aspect ratio. In more simpler terms, it means that there were no black bars at the top and bottom of the screen but no film is shot that way (the aspect ratio for this was 1.85:1) and those black bars are exactly what make a film more cinematic and differentiate it from a TV show.
This is a moderately interesting film but it feels hollow and devoid of content.
Ryan Gosling does a fine job with the role of Leland. What is interesting to note is that even though he's supposed to be 15 years old in this film, the actor was at the time of filming 22. That is what impressed me the most- how he had managed to be and portray the character he was supposed to be. It seems that even Leland himself doesn't know why he committed the crime. Throughout the film, we get to know him better as it the story jumps back and forth in time from the prison to the time before the murder. At times Leland becomes and almost Hannibal Lecter-like character by making his teacher and interviewer Pearl Madison confront the problems in his own personal life. What annoyed me was how they had made this teenage boy into a know-it-all philosopher giving lessons on life and especially his big moralizing speech at the end. And of course they couldn't have done without the very clichéd having to kill him at the end part. All in all, I have to say that I never cared much for Leland's character. Too confusing, illogical and not very interesting at all.
Don Cheadle does a pretty good job as Pearl Madison, the author and teacher who wavers between wanting to exploit Leland and wanting to really get to know him. At the same time he has some issues in his personal life that he needs to get solved.
The real treat in this film was Kevin Spacey who is also one of my favorite actors. His role as Leland's distant father is small but what we see of him and especially his lines are just pure gold.
The film was directed by a virtual nobody by the name of Matthew Ryan Hoge. This is his second film, the first being a flick by the name of Self Storage. He gives the film a calm pace which lead me to the point that I didn't really care if I finished it or not. The cinematography is nothing to brag about but for a film like this, a subtle approach was more appropriate. What annoyed me was that the version we saw was in that annoying 4:3 aspect ratio. In more simpler terms, it means that there were no black bars at the top and bottom of the screen but no film is shot that way (the aspect ratio for this was 1.85:1) and those black bars are exactly what make a film more cinematic and differentiate it from a TV show.
This is a moderately interesting film but it feels hollow and devoid of content.