I always had a disdain for trailers that told so much of the story that there is no point in watching the actual movie. I'm on the fence about, but leaning towards disliking, trailers that hide the movie's premise, showing just random clips to entice you, without really giving you any indication of what you're in for. The trailer for United States of Leland is a different kind all together. It lied to me! LIED!
The trailer made this movie look so good, that I had to pause the DVD, hop on Netflix and queue it up before continuing with whatever it was I was trying to watch. The story the trailer told was intriguing and suspenseful... the story i got, was completely different. Now on the one hand, I appreciate the feint, and understand that deceipt can be instrumental in a good mystery movie trailer. Here's the problem, this aint no damn mystery movie. It's a melodrama which is clearly intended to be a thought provoking analysis of the human condition.
This is all well and fine, ... I like thought, and analyses, and human condition, and even provocation every now and then. But I do not like this movie. It failed at all of the above.
I blame the director... and Ryan Gosling (Leland). The pacing was painfully slow, most of the supporting character subplots did zero to advance the story, which resulted in characters that were more caricatures than anything else. The protaganist Leland was so devoid of emotion or expression that at no point did I care what happened to him. Which made it very difficult for me to believe it when all the other characters in the movie found him so fascinating. A fine cast is wasted on this movie.
Speaking of waste, I'll not waste another word. Wait... okay I'll waste three. Don't watch this.
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