Film Review: The United States of Leland (2003)

For many Americans confronted with the new and disturbing phenomenon of school shootings in the 1990s, the first rational reaction was "why?" One of the films that attempts to give an answer to this question is The United States of Leland, a 2003 drama written and directed by Matthew Ryan Hoge.

The film opens with Leland P. Fitzgerald (played by Ryan Gosling), a quiet and seemingly sensitive teenager, committing an unspeakable crime - knifing an autistic boy to death at a school playground. He is arrested and brought to a juvenile detention centre to await trial. There, he meets history teacher Pearl Madison (played by Don Cheadle), who is fascinated with Leland and wants to discover what made him do such a horrible thing. Pearl's motives aren't exactly educational - he wants to become a writer, and since Leland happens to be the estranged son of famous novelist Albert T. Fitzgerald (played by Kevin Spacey), a book based on conversations with Leland is bound to be a bestseller. Leland, despite not remembering his crime, has less difficulty coming to terms with the consequences of his action than Becky Pollard (played by Jena Malone), his former girlfriend and the victim's sister, as well as the rest of her family.

Hoge had a great idea - to explore some post-Columbine issue from an existentialist perspective. At first, it looks like The United States of Leland will succeed in doing that. Ryan Gosling is great in a difficult role of a character who must win the audience's sympathies despite the atrociousness of his actions. The character of Pearl - his spiritual counselor with issues of his own - is also fascinating and well-played by Don Cheadle. Unfortunately, Hoge squanders this wonderful idea with a poor script. The use of flashbacks is confusing enough, but the audience is really at odds with too many characters and too many unexplored subplots. Kevin Spacey, who produced the film, is wasted in a completely unnecessary role. What was supposed to be profound comes across as pretentious, especially at the end with the surprise twist that wasn't a surprise at all. The United States of Leland begins with a question "why," but after the end credits, that question will be asked by viewers who witnessed a missed opportunity.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

(Note: Original version of the review is available here

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