Originally Posted by
wizfan
The United States of Leland (2003). I found it to be a nice little indie film, despite its flaws. Matthew Ryan Hoge tried to make a good film, using his own original screenplay. I was surprised by how negative the critical consensus for the film was. Yeah, its true message may have been unclear and lost in the details, but I didn't think it was an overly terrible film. It features one of the first theatrical appearances of Ryan Gosling; as such, it's not one of his best performances, but you could see he tried his best. And, damn, he used to be so skinny back then. He played lots of fucked-up characters back then. I liked Don Cheadle's performance as a teacher and aspiring writer. The rest of the cast were not that interesting. There were many unresolved subplots, which was a shame, because I was intrigued by the film's non-linear structure and its tendency to keep you guessing. It could have been better, but it wasn't bad for an inexperienced writer-director. He has only made two films, Leland being the second. He has been inactive since then. I wonder if he was disheartened by the negative reviews.