The United States of Leland
The film centers on a young teenager who is in prison because of stabbing a disabled boy. In prison, His teacher- Pearl Madison investigates the murder , discovers the real cause. It is a meaningful film.
9 September 1980, Kalispell, Montana, USA
3 May 1949, New York City, New York, USA
4 January 1956, Charleston, West Virginia, USA
23 June 1951, Oneonta, New York, USA
13 December 1970, Dong Ha, Vietnam
14 March 1979, Hinsdale, Illinois, USA
18 August 1959, Chicago, Illinois, USA
13 September 1948, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
1 February 1965, Detroit, Michigan, USA
22 March 1955, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden
December 29, 2010
Uneven drama that's too intense for kids.
April 29, 2009
A very good film about the utter senselessness of murder...
April 09, 2004
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?
June 29, 2005
Kevin Spacey, who produced the film, is wasted in completely unnecessary role.
April 09, 2004
It's neither an insightful nor well-made film.
April 15, 2004
A sidetracking subplot about Madison's adulterous fling with a co-worker goes nowhere; it is one of several unsatisfying, tertiary plot strands.
April 09, 2004
Besides being puffed up with its importance, it's also inert and totally implausible -- one of those movies where nobody behaves in a way that seems remotely human.
April 09, 2004
[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.
May 04, 2009
"The United States Of Leland" deftly points out dilemmas in current American ideology that frequently escalate into tragedy.
June 28, 2005
Powerful and provocative--if perhaps a bit subdued.
April 16, 2004
An intriguing movie about how badly we really want to know the unknowable, what makes kids kill other kids.
July 05, 2005
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.
