The United States of Leland (2002)
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 89
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 59
The United States of Leland has its moments, but they're undermined by a muddled plot, unsympathetic characters, and frustratingly uneven performances.
Average Rating: 4.4/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 22
The United States of Leland has its moments, but they're undermined by a muddled plot, unsympathetic characters, and frustratingly uneven performances.
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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 29,871
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Movie Info
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
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Cast
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Don Cheadle
Pearl Madison -
Ryan Gosling
Leland Fitzgerald -
Chris Klein
Allen Hughes -
Jena Malone
Becky -
Lena Olin
Marybeth Fitzgerald -
Kevin Spacey
Albert Fitzgerald -
Michelle Williams
Jennifer Pollard -
Martin Donovan
Harry Pollard -
Ann Magnuson
Karen Pollard -
Kerry Washington
Ayesha -
Sherilyn Fenn
Mrs. Calderon -
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Yolonda Ross
Miranda -
Nick Kokich
Kevin -
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Maria Arce
Bethany -
Randall Bosley
Sheriff Donaldson -
Alec Medlock
Young Leland
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The United States of Leland Trailer & Photos
All Critics (96) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (60) | DVD (13)
An intriguing movie about how badly we really want to know the unknowable, what makes kids kill other kids.
A sidetracking subplot about Madison's adulterous fling with a co-worker goes nowhere; it is one of several unsatisfying, tertiary plot strands.
Top CriticThe entire film is like that -- moments of good actors giving halfhearted performances.
Isn't it sad that a boy like this could feel so lost that he had to kill someone? Well, maybe. But isn't it sadder that someone's dead?
It's neither an insightful nor well-made film.
[Hoge] spends an awful lot of time trying to get us to understand Leland and almost none trying to get us to understand his victim.
Uneven drama that's too intense for kids.
"The United States Of Leland" deftly points out dilemmas in current American ideology that frequently escalate into tragedy.
Hoge seems to take delight in the fact that the film's conclusion is so frustratingly vague, whereas in fact it's both annoying and disappointing.
Kevin Spacey, who produced the film, is wasted in completely unnecessary role.
Powerful and provocative--if perhaps a bit subdued.
... the ultimate result is like one of those college rock songs that hint at a depth that just isn't there.
A muddled and uninteresting psychological melodrama.
As self-centered as its title, The United States of Leland is-to quote the great Brittany Murphy-"music to cut your wrists" to.
What action there is in this movie takes forever to get going -- or maybe it just seems like forever because all of these characters are so unlikeable and unfathomable, and the dialogue between them is so trite and dumb.
An exasperating film about teen violence and suburban dysfunction that wears its confusion like a badge of honor.
The drama makes us yearn to discover the reason Leland killed the boy, but the point of the movie isn't to grant us a big revealment.
It's tidy in all the least important ways, with all the questions that don't demand answers explained and all those that do left open.
Audience Reviews for The United States of Leland
Super Reviewer
Leland: "I think there are two ways you can see the world. You either see the sadness that's behind everything or you choose to keep it all out."
Leland: "The worst part is knowing that there is goodness in people. Mostly it stays deep down and buried. Maybe we don't have God because we're scared of the bad stuff. Maybe we're really scared of the good stuff. Because if there's no God, well, that means it's inside of us and we could be good all the time if we wanted. So when we do bad things, it'd be because we want to or because we have to. Or maybe we just need the bad stuff to remind us what the good stuff is in the first place."
Super Reviewer
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- Pearl Madison: I'm only human, man.
- Leland Fitzgerald: It's funny how people only say that after they do something bad. I mean, you never hear someone say, "I'm only human" after they rescue a kid from a burning building.
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- Becky: I don't want to hurt you.
- Leland Fitzgerald: Then don't.
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- Leland Fitzgerald: I think there are two ways you can see the world. You either see the sadness that's behind everything or you choose to keep it all out.
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- Leland Fitzgerald: The worst part is knowing that there is goodness in people. Mostly it stays deep down and buried. Maybe we don't have God because we're scared of the bad stuff. Maybe we're really scared of the good stuff. Because if there's no God, well, that means it's inside of us and we could be good all the time if we wanted. So when we do bad things, it'd be because we want to or because we have to. Or maybe we just need the bad stuff to remind us what the good stuff is in the first place.
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- Mrs. Calderon: You have to believe that life is more than the sum of its parts, kiddo.
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