The United States of Leland
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| The United States of Leland | |
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 Movie Poster |
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| Directed by | Matthew Ryan Hoge |
| Produced by | Kevin Spacey |
| Written by | Matthew Ryan Hoge |
| Starring | Don Cheadle Ryan Gosling Chris Klein Jena Malone Lena Olin Kevin Spacey Michelle Williams |
| Distributed by | Paramount Classics |
| Release date(s) | 18 January 2003 (premiere) |
| Running time | 108 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The United States of Leland is a 2004 dramatic movie 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.
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[edit] Plot
The movie is heavily based on The Stranger by Albert Camus, taking many of the book's elements such as alienation, seeming lack of remorse at such a horrible crime, and existentialism. The movie flows back and forth between the past and present and between different characters and their relations to each other, a cinematography style similar to that used in Magnolia and Crash, however, it is all tied together by the narration of the protagonist, Leland. He says that sometimes things happen because they happen, and talks about the sadness he sees in many people even if they do not see it themselves. Leland seems to be atheistic in his viewpoints, seeing humanity as projecting its own actions onto God and Satan, The "why", which is so sought after by the other characters in the movie is never fully explained. In the end it is implied that Leland committed the murder seemingly as an act of euthanasia for a person whom he saw no future for, but he never directly explains precisely why he did it and claims to have no memory of the murder itself.
[edit] Cast
- Ryan Gosling as Leland P. Fitzgerald
- Kevin Spacey as Albert T. Fitzgerald
- Lena Olin as Marybeth Fitzgerald
- Don Cheadle as Pearl Madison
- Chris Klein as Allen Harris
- Jena Malone as Becky Pollard
- Michelle Williams as Julie Pollard
- Martin Donovan as Harry Pollard
- Ann Magnuson as Karen Pollard
- Michael Welch as Ryan Pollard
- Sherilyn Fenn as Angela Calderon
[edit] Criticism
Detractors of the film have mockingly referred to the film as The United States of Donnie[citation needed], deriding it as nothing more than an inferior copy of the cult movie Donnie Darko. Defenders of the film view this comparison as based on only a handful of superficial similarities, arguing that the plots of the two films, and even the genres, differ greatly. Congruences include:
- Both feature protagonists trying to reconcile their gentle temperaments with their violent behavior. Both heroes see things differently than other people and both reveal the sexual misadventures of an authority figure. They also look alike: both characters have dark, frazzled hair and a marked preference for hooded sweatshirts.
- In both, Jena Malone portrays as an emotionally-troubled love interest. In both, she wears a school uniform and notices an older man staring at her lecherously.
- Incongruence: in Leland, the older man is a non-consequential extra, but in Darko, the adult male is a mysterious reoccurring character, referred to as 'the man in the track suit'.
- Both feature two authors, one selfish, one helpful. In USL, they are Albert T. Fitzgerald and Pearl Madison; in DD, they are Jim Cunningham and Roberta Sparrow.
- Incongruence: In Leland, the author's authorship is an integral part of his character, since he is reknown as an amazing and prolific author ("You aren't a writer if no one's reading you"), yet his personality is revealed to be not-so-nice and he becomes an antagonist. Alternatively, in Darko, the author is not well-reknown but a recluse, and her singular piece of literature is esoteric yet its meaning aids the protagonist.
- Both movies feature a teacher fighting "the system" and risking his or her job to help students.
- Incongruence: In Leland, the teacher (a main character) is a part of the plot, where in Darko the teacher is not intregal to the plot. Furthermore, in Leland, the teacher "fights the system" actively and endures punishment for his persistance; in Darko the teacher "fights the system" in words only, and will not fight the system if it is a detriment to his career.
- In both, a plane trip to a major city is a turning point.
- Incongruence: In Darko, the plane trip is the propulsion of the plot, and in Leland, the plane trip does not propel the plot, but it enhances the characterization of the main character and his father as a reflection of how they choose to relate to each other.
- In USL, Leland lives with his divorced mother while his girlfriend is part of a family of five: father, mother, two sisters, brother. In DD, this is reversed: Donnie is part of a family of five--father, mother, and two sisters and himself--while his girlfriend lives with her divorced mother.
- Incongruence: In Darko, the older sister is the main character's older sister, and in Leland she is the oldest sister of the main character's girlfriend. In Leland, the family of four is really three but includes a live-in boyfriend of the oldest sister.
- In both films, the older sister is dating a boy who is involved in the death of the main character.
[edit] External links
- The United States of Leland at the Internet Movie Database
- Anatomy of a Scene: The United States of Leland, from the Sundance Channel website
