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The United States of Leland (2002)

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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: 28
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 21

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: 29,403

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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

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Directed By: Matthew Ryan Hoge

Written By: Matthew Ryan Hoge

In Theaters: Apr 2, 2004 Wide

On DVD: Sep 7, 2004

Box Office:$0.3M

Paramount Classics

An intriguing movie about how badly we really want to know the unknowable, what makes kids kill other kids.

April 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel

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Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

A sidetracking subplot about Madison's adulterous fling with a co-worker goes nowhere; it is one of several unsatisfying, tertiary plot strands.

April 15, 2004 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle

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Houston Chronicle

Top Critic

The entire film is like that -- moments of good actors giving halfhearted performances.

April 9, 2004 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee

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Joe Baltake

Sacramento Bee

Top Critic

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?

April 9, 2004 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger

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Stephen Whitty

Newark Star-Ledger

Top Critic

It's neither an insightful nor well-made film.

April 9, 2004 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

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Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

[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.

April 9, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Mike Ervin

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Uneven drama that's too intense for kids.

December 29, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

"The United States Of Leland" deftly points out dilemmas in current American ideology that frequently escalate into tragedy.

May 4, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

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.

July 5, 2005 Full Review Source: ViewLondon

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Matthew Turner

ViewLondon

Kevin Spacey, who produced the film, is wasted in completely unnecessary role.

June 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews

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Dragan Antulov

Draxblog Movie Reviews Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews

Powerful and provocative--if perhaps a bit subdued.

June 28, 2005 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall

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Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

... the ultimate result is like one of those college rock songs that hint at a depth that just isn't there.

January 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A muddled and uninteresting psychological melodrama.

September 17, 2004 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

As self-centered as its title, The United States of Leland is-to quote the great Brittany Murphy-"music to cut your wrists" to.

August 31, 2004 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

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.

August 8, 2004 Full Review Source: Film Journal International

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Shirley Sealy

Film Journal International

An exasperating film about teen violence and suburban dysfunction that wears its confusion like a badge of honor.

May 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Des Moines Register

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Jeffrey Bruner

Des Moines Register

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.

April 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star

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Phil Villarreal

Arizona Daily Star

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.

April 22, 2004 Full Review Source: culturevulture.net

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Gary Mairs

culturevulture.net

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Audience Reviews for The United States of Leland

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Cast: Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein, Jena Malone, Lena Olin, Kevin Spacey, Michelle Williams, Martin Donovan, Ann Magnuson, Kerry Washington, Sherilyn Fenn, Nick Kokich, Sheeri Rappaport Director: Matthew Ryan Hoge Summary: Teenager Leland Fitzgerald appears to have everything going for him, including a

July 8, 2009

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Super Reviewer

There is something about Ryan Gosling that attracts films of a Psychological nature. Whilst the topic of this film, could so easily have appeared an open and shut case, we delve into a much deeper psyche in an almost Devil's Advocate view of the events.This one could open up to discussion and debate about the rights

April 28, 2007