Plot
Tells the story of a young man's experience in a juvenile detention center that touches on the tumultuous changes that befall his family and the community in which he lives.
Release Year: 2003
Rating: 7.1/10 (12,401 voted)
Critic's Score: 37/100
Director:
Matthew Ryan Hoge
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Don Cheadle, Kevin Spacey
Storyline After stabbing an autistic boy, the sixteen year old troubled and pessimist Leland P. Fitzgerald is sent to a juvenile detention. His teacher and aspirant writer Pearl Madison gets close and tries to understand him, first with intention of writing a book, and later becoming his friend. Leland slowly discloses his sad vision of world.
Cast: Don Cheadle
-
Pearl Madison
Ryan Gosling
-
Leland P. Fitzgerald
Chris Klein
-
Allen Harris
Jena Malone
-
Becky Pollard
Lena Olin
-
Marybeth Fitzgerald
Kevin Spacey
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Albert T. Fitzgerald
Michelle Williams
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Julie Pollard
Martin Donovan
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Harry Pollard
Ann Magnuson
-
Karen Pollard
Kerry Washington
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Ayesha
Sherilyn Fenn
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Mrs. Calderon
Matt Malloy
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Charlie
Wesley Jonathan
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Bengel
Michael Peña
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Guillermo
Michael Welch
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Ryan Pollard
Taglines:
Crime. Confusion. Compassion. They're all just states of mind.
Opening Weekend: $48,384
(USA)
(4 April 2004)
(14 Screens)
Gross: $343,816
(USA)
(11 July 2004)
Technical Specs
Runtime:|
Canada:
(Ontario)
Goofs:
Factual errors:
In this movie, set in Arizona, all the cars shown have front and back license plates. However, in Arizona you are only issued two license plates if you have a personalized plate which none of the cars in the movie had.
Quotes: Leland:
You want a why. Well, maybe there isn't one. Maybe... Maybe this is just something that happened.
User Review
An extremely moving, touching, thought-provoking movie
Rating: 9/10
Leland Fitzgerald (Ryan Gosling) is sent to jail for the murder of an
autistic kid. When pressured with the question 'Why?' he doesn't have
an answer. While in jail he meets Pearl (Don Cheadle), his teacher, who
decides to take matters into his own hands and helps Leland figure out
why he did it. Throughout this film we learn all about Leland's
troubled life, including his ex-girlfriend Becky(Jena Malone), his
famous father Albert(Kevin Spacey)and his whole sad life.
This film is Matthew Ryan Hoge's second movie, and it is spectacular in
nearly everyway. This is one movie which will leave you thinking in the
end, and wondering about how it all works. The movie is quite dark, but
if you can handle that then you will realize just how good a film it
is.
In this movie, there is no bad guy. There is no one you can blame for
anything that happens. There's no stereotyping, and the audience does
not try to prove Leland guilty. Instead, we sit back, relax, and watch
this boy's life unfold throughout the corse of the movie. All the
problems depicted in the story are very real. Drug addiction, parental
expectations, overwhelming sadness; they all exist in our world.
Ryan Gosling gives one of the greatest performances of his career in
this movie, as the depressed teenager Leland. His father lives in
Europe and doesn't really care much about his son. The only person he
loves is Becky, but she has problems of her own. He knows exactly what
he did, but as he says in the film, 'You want a why, but maybe there
isn't one. Maybe this is something that just happened.' There is a why,
but we don't find out about it until the end. As you watch the movie,
the audience finds themselves amazed that such a young person could
know so much about the world. Leland notices things that people tend to
ignore.
A particular thought-provoking scene which really affected me was
during one of Leland's conversations with Pearl. Pearl just cheated on
his wife and when Leland asks why, Pearl replies that he's only human.
Then Leland says something which never really occurs to anyone: "Why do
people only say that when they've done something wrong?"
Another fantastic acting job was provided by Chris Klein. In the film
he plays Allen Harris, the boyfriend of Becky's sister Julie (Michelle
Williams). Although he is not one of the main characters, I found
myself amazed at how deep his character was. You can relate to Allen a
lot. You know how much he cares for the Pollard family. It's as if they
were his own flesh and blood. By the end of the movie, you realize just
how far he would go to help them.
Overall, this movie is a masterpiece which has been overlooked by quite
a few people. If, however, you take the time to watch it, you will most
likely see that everything I've mentioned above is true. And once
you're finished watching it, you'll never look at the world the same
way again.
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