The United States of Leland (2003)

I was curious to see this film which was made in 2003, but not released I think until 2004, since I had read so many conflicting reviews -- ranging from drab and depressing to brilliant.  Of course it was something in the middle, worth a watch for the depth of the acting by a very able cast, but ultimately the polar opposite of a feel-good movie.  Told in a non-linear fashion casually moving back and forth from the past to the present with disturbing frequency, it tells of a 15-year old boy played by Ryan Gosling, from a broken family and distressed by being dumped by his love interest (Jena Malone), who is arrested for murdering her sweet mentally-handicapped young brother.  A teacher at Juvenile Hall played by the always professional Don Cheadle senses the makings of a best-selling book and tries to shed light on Gosling's motives which are never made particularly clear.  He begins to feel close to the articulate youth and perhaps really wishes to help him despite the fact that an act, however evil, can never be satisfactorily undone.  The cast is fleshed out by Kevin Spacey and Lena Olin as his strange and estranged parents, Martin Donovan as the murdered boy's father, Michelle Williams as another daughter of his family, and Chris Klein as her boyfriend who is living with them after his own mother's death.   Despite the high standard of acting from all of the cast, it was more than a little difficult to accept the then 23-year old Gosling and the then 24-year old Klein as believable juveniles, which -- as it happens -- was essential for the film's sad, sad outcome.