United States of Leland - Movie Review

I streamed United States of Leland because of the cast. The description appealed to me, but seeing Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Don Cheadle and Kevin Spacey in the credits sealed the deal for me. The cast was outstanding, as expected. But the story fell a bit short, largely due to the pacing. The story did offer an intriguing look at tragedy.

Leland (Ryan Gosling) is a tortured soul. His introspection causes him to see life in absolutes. His interpretation of the world around him is informed by several important events in his life from the death of his grandparent to his parent's divorce. His father (Kevin Spacey) is a famous author who has never had time for Leland. Leland is a sensitive kid, so it really makes no sense that he stabbed a mentally challenged boy to death.

The question of why Leland stabbed the boy to death is the one everyone wants an answer to. He realizes that. While he is in juvenile detention, his teacher (Don Cheadle) takes an interest in this question, but even the teacher has ulterior motives. The teacher sees an opportunity to break the writer's block he has been struggling with. The "why" would make a compelling story. It is this story. The examination takes us back through the important events leading up to tragedy to help make sense of the tragedy, which may never be fully understood.

I felt that United States of Leland got bogged down in the cerebral facets of the story, never really connecting the message to the story. The sense of disconnect started from the muddled beginning, where the events are viewed from the disjointed perspective of different characters related to the incident. While the character development was decent, the actual story plodded along without ever engaging me. I never became invested in the characters which made me an observer more than a participant in the film. That sterile quality prevented me from caring about the outcomes, keeping me at arms length from the action.

I don't think I have ever disliked a film that Ryan Gosling has been in. Gosling is a solid actor that generally picks quirky scripts that have power. This film seems to be an exception to that rule. Gosling delivered a strong performance in spite of the short comings in the material. Spacey was interesting, although his character was never fully fleshed out. Cheadle was probably the most telling character, with his own flaws that help move the story forward. Cheadle was crisp and believable. With a strong cast, this film never lost me on the strength of the performances.

United States of Leland is rated R. The film did not have too much objectionable material, but it was apparently enough for the R rating. There were a few disturbing images (two murders), but the actual event was never shown and the gore factor practically non-existent. The "F" word was bandied about quite a bit, so language was another likely factor. The film also depicted drug use (hard drugs) and some mild sensuality. All things considered, I would probably allow teenagers to see this film.

United States of Leland was an interesting concept that ended up feeling disjointed in its delivery. The cloudy message was delivered by a deft cast, so it was more a matter of the writing than the acting. It resulted in a disconnect that never fully involved me in the movie. I wanted to feel closer to the characters but just didn't care about them. They were developed decent enough but just did not matter. I enjoyed the film (largely on the acting) but was not bowled over by it. It is a decent film that is worth watching on a rainy day. 6.5/10.

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