The United States of Leland (Movie Review)

The United States of Leland (2003) isn't a great film. And though I don't share in the disgust that so many other reviewers had for this Kevin Spacey production... I certainly think it could've been better.

I'd lump it in with Saved! (2004) in that regard — another art house wannabee that doesn't quite make the cut. And though it wasn't as brutal or scathing in its criticism of its subject matter (which was my main beef with Saved!), I was nevertheless annoyed to find unsolicited life advice coming from the film's central character (Leland, played by Ryan Gosling).

I certainly empathized with Leland, and I understood his character more than I care to admit (anyone familiar with my more melodramatic prose knows how disheartening I find life — or rather, the way people fail to enjoy life — to be). In fact, some of the observations Leland makes about people are observations I've made myself. I found myself increasingly drawn to him, as a result, though Leland's "keen" understanding of the universe causes him to do something inexcusable.

In short: he murders a mentally handicapped teenager. Much of the film tries to explain what drove Leland to commit this crime, and even apotheosizes him as a martyr.

So why didn't I thoroughly enjoy a film in which the central character spouted compelling philosophical insights?

Because much of the framework for these conversations was contrived. Because Leland was a mere mouthpiece for whatever the director wanted to say, and most other elements of the film were poorly designed around these diatribes. And because Leland's teacher at the county jail, Pearl (played by Don Cheadle), grew to empathize with Leland in such a way that the audience has little choice but to assume that writer/director Matthew Ryan Hoge intended Leland to emerge as a martyr... and not just an otherwise phenomenal kid with keen insights and spotty judgement.

But I'm not being entirely fair: I didn't despise this film. And, insofar as I did share in some of Leland's insights... I did, at times, enjoy it.