my main thought after watching this film was “what a rip-off of american beauty!”, and not simply because kevin spacey also stars in it. instead of focusing on a middle-aged white man in suburbia, the united states of leland focuses on a teenage white boy in suburbia. however, i wasn’t completely convinced of leland’s path towards nihilism. so his father never really paid attention to him and he slept with a heartbroken ex-wife in new york… so what? kevin spacey’s character in american beauty possessed a motivation for action and change that made a bit more sense to me, while the murder of the mentally disabled boy in the united states of leland didn’t seem to prove anything by the end of the film.

i will give the movie some kudos for the tremendous efforts of actors ryan gosling, jena malone, and don cheadle. (spacey is in the movie for a total of ten minutes, so i can’t really applaud his acting prowess.) ryan gosling has really proven himself a talented actor since his breaker high days. and why does jena malone seem to be hollywood’s it-girl when it comes to coming-of-age films? does something about her scream “i am an unsure teenager! please save me from the depths of pubescent anarchy!”? life as a house, donnie darko, saved!, and even stepmom are examples of jena’s fine work as a surly teenager.

i suppose the main plot of the united states of leland isn’t terrible. it was really engaging and the film sucks you into leland’s world of feeling too much for too many people. it was interesting, but definitely not groundbreaking.