Review of The United States of Leland (2003) by Jayakrishnan R — 10 May 2015

You have to believe life is more than the sum of its parts.

Leland Fitzgerald is a very smart and unique kid in high school that falls in love with a girl who loves two guys, Leland and another. Leland does some favors for the girl and ends up locked up in juvenile hall. He gets close to his teacher, who also happens to be an author, and tells him an amazing tale of life, what happened to him, and how he sees the world. The teacher thinks he's found someone to write his next book about.

"White boys aint about that gangster shit. Especially white boys like you.".

Matthew Ryan Hoge, director of Self Storage, delivers The United States of Leland in his second major motion picture. The storyline for this is very well done and reminded me of a better Murder by Numbers. The script and situations are very well written and the acting was solid. The cast includes Ryan Gosling, Don Cheadle, Kevin Spacey, Kerry Washington, Martin Donovan, and Chris Klein.

"I feel all of their sadness.".

I came across this on Netflix and had to add it to my queue since it starred Ryan Gosling (I'm a fan). He delivers this character well and his character reminded me of a better version of his character in Murder by Numbers. Overall, this is worth following for fans of thriller/crime drama, but I wouldn't add it to my DVD collection.

"Sometimes things just don't work out between people and it's nobody's fault.".

Grade: B.