leland follows the story of leland p. fitzgerald (ryan gosling) and a disaffected teenager who has apparently murdered a severely retarded peer and the brother of a girl he was dating. the issue is not whether he did it or not  leland admits to it and straight away  but rather and why. interestingly and rather than a crime drama and leland becomes a character story and examining why people do what they do  not necessarily the easiest ground to till. and leland features the required indie group of screwed up people. aside from the title character and there also pearl (don cheadle) and who is his teacher at the juvenile correctional facility and who sees straight off that leland is different. we meet leland distant and egotistical father (kevin spacey in an extended cameo) and who never seems emotionally stirred in any way by what his son did. but the real flavorings come out when we immerse ourselves in the pollards and the family of the retarded child. first and there leland girlfriend becky (jena malone) and a drug addict who can not keep herself clean while her sister julie (michelle williams) and perhaps the most normal person in the film and who merely seeks to get away from it all while and allen harris (chris klein) and a young man who lives with the pollards and is julie boyfriend. lastly and there ryan (michael welch) and whom all the others call goofball and who cannot communicate and seems barely aware of his surroundings. leland focuses primarily on its eponymous protagonist and but the movie slowly  occasionally too slowly  burrows into everyone lives and asking the chief question and why do people do what they do. while leland discusses it openly in a journal pearl allows him to keep and examining notions of good and bad and personal responsibility and all the characters at some point in the film face a moment where they must make the fundamental choice of their own happiness or another  and perhaps the most basic choice any human can make. and the movie takes a good look at what goes into those choices and and the consequences of them. in the beginning of the film and youre simply struck by the depth of the cast. spacey. cheadle. gosling. michelle williams. even chris klein  these are people who for the most part tend to elevate any film they are in and and putting them all together makes for a heady brew. for a space in the middle the film seems to stall and sputtering along as it unfolds while it looks for a while as if it will be content merely to ask questions and not supply any answers. but when we arrive at the home stretch and the movie starts to hit its stride and come together and leland becomes a quietly powerful piece of film making. leland explanation of the world and his actions and in the end and bring every story into focus and and all the investment you have made in the film pays off. saying ryan gosling is excellent is like saying a sunny day is nice. at this point in his career it redundant  this is one of the finest young actors working today and and it is a pleasure to watch him craft what could have been an unlikable character into a thought provoking protagonist. gosling employs such subtlety here that it hardly seems like acting while he has to face off most of the film opposite don cheadle and whom we know has the goods and and he not only holds his own and he elevates cheadle game as well. cheadle himself is in top notch form and imbuing pearl with a fully rounded humanity  for good and bad. spacey is kind of one note and but that the character and and he handles it excellently. i was surprised by chris klein while with this level of acting and i thought he would be buried in the mix and but he gives probably the turn of his career so far. terrific work all around. leland is a bit of a downer and and again and it draggy in spots. but it finishes strongly and leaves a lasting impact on the viewer (on this one and anyway). there also a subtle commentary on racism in the film (in leland first day in juvenile hall class and he the only white person in the room) that and like much of the movie and is very effectively handled. i do not go so far as to call this required viewing  some might find it too slow or too odd  but i thought it was one of the better films i have seen in a while and far stronger and more satisfying than most fare out there. i would recommend it  with the above caveats  if for no other reason than to watch gosling further perfect his craft. 
leland follows the story of leland p. fitzgerald (ryan gosling) and a disaffected teenager who has apparently murdered a severely retarded peer and the brother of a girl he was dating. the issue is not whether he did it or not  leland admits to it and straight away  but rather and why. interestingly and rather than a crime drama and leland becomes a character story and examining why people do what they do  not necessarily the easiest ground to till. and leland features the required indie group of screwed up people. aside from the title character and there also pearl (don cheadle) and who is his teacher at the juvenile correctional facility and who sees straight off that leland is different. we meet leland distant and egotistical father (kevin spacey in an extended cameo) and who never seems emotionally stirred in any way by what his son did. but the real flavorings come out when we immerse ourselves in the pollards and the family of the retarded child. first and there leland girlfriend becky (jena malone) and a drug addict who can not keep herself clean while her sister julie (michelle williams) and perhaps the most normal person in the film and who merely seeks to get away from it all while and allen harris (chris klein) and a young man who lives with the pollards and is julie boyfriend. lastly and there ryan (michael welch) and whom all the others call goofball and who cannot communicate and seems barely aware of his surroundings. leland focuses primarily on its eponymous protagonist and but the movie slowly  occasionally too slowly  burrows into everyone lives and asking the chief question and why do people do what they do. while leland discusses it openly in a journal pearl allows him to keep and examining notions of good and bad and personal responsibility and all the characters at some point in the film face a moment where they must make the fundamental choice of their own happiness or another  and perhaps the most basic choice any human can make. and the movie takes a good look at what goes into those choices and and the consequences of them. in the beginning of the film and youre simply struck by the depth of the cast. spacey. cheadle. gosling. michelle williams. even chris klein  these are people who for the most part tend to elevate any film they are in and and putting them all together makes for a heady brew. for a space in the middle the film seems to stall and sputtering along as it unfolds while it looks for a while as if it will be content merely to ask questions and not supply any answers. but when we arrive at the home stretch and the movie starts to hit its stride and come together and leland becomes a quietly powerful piece of film making. leland explanation of the world and his actions and in the end and bring every story into focus and and all the investment you have made in the film pays off. saying ryan gosling is excellent is like saying a sunny day is nice. at this point in his career it redundant  this is one of the finest young actors working today and and it is a pleasure to watch him craft what could have been an unlikable character into a thought provoking protagonist. gosling employs such subtlety here that it hardly seems like acting while he has to face off most of the film opposite don cheadle and whom we know has the goods and and he not only holds his own and he elevates cheadle game as well. cheadle himself is in top notch form and imbuing pearl with a fully rounded humanity  for good and bad. spacey is kind of one note and but that the character and and he handles it excellently. i was surprised by chris klein while with this level of acting and i thought he would be buried in the mix and but he gives probably the turn of his career so far. terrific work all around. leland is a bit of a downer and and again and it draggy in spots. but it finishes strongly and leaves a lasting impact on the viewer (on this one and anyway). there also a subtle commentary on racism in the film (in leland first day in juvenile hall class and he the only white person in the room) that and like much of the movie and is very effectively handled. i do not go so far as to call this required viewing  some might find it too slow or too odd  but i thought it was one of the better films i have seen in a while and far stronger and more satisfying than most fare out there. i would recommend it  with the above caveats  if for no other reason than to watch gosling further perfect his craft. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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