THE UNITED STATES
OF LELAND

Year: 2003
USA: Paramount Classics
UK: Momentum Theatrical
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Don Cheadle, Jena Malone, Chris Klein, Lena Olin, Kevin Spacey, Michelle Williams, Martin Donovan, Ann Magnuson, Kerry Washington, Sherilyn Fenn, Matt Malloy, Wesley Jonathan, Michael Pena, Michael Welch, Ron Canada, Troy Winbush, Nick Kokich, Yolonda Ross, Leyna Nguyen, Jim Haynie, Randall Bosley, Jody Wood
Director: Matthew Ryan Hoge
Country: USA
USA & UK: 108 mins
USA Rated: R for language and some drug content
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language and hard drug use
USA Release Date: 2 April 2004
UK Release Date: 1 July 2005


Synopsis

On an ordinary day in school, a seemingly ordinary 15 year-old Leland Fitzgerald (Ryan Gosling) stuns his quiet suburban community with a chilling crime and everything changes forever... not only for Leland but his family, friends and teacher who becomes obsessed with trying to figure out why.

He is sent to juvenile hall where he meets Pearl (Don Cheadle), a teacher and aspiring writer who dreams of making Leland's compelling story into a book. As Pearl digs deeper into Leland's life and the people caught up in it - his mother, his famous writer-father, and his troubled girlfriend - he uncovers Leland's disturbing motive. The tables soon turn when the enigmatic teen forces Pearl to examine his own morally questionable behaviour.