Release Year: 2003 Rating: R Director: Matthew Ryan Hoge Producer: Kevin Spacey, Bernie Morris, Palmer West, Jonah Smith Distributor: Paramount Classics
synopsis
This is the story of a sensitive teenager, Leland (Gosling), faced with issues of morality and hope under difficult circumstances, who is arrested and sent to juvenile hall, after he kills an autistic child out of sympathy (sort of like an emotional euthanasia). Once there, he meets a teacher, Mr. Pearl (Cheadle), who helps him figure out the reasons why he committed the crime, as we also see the ramifications of the murder have on his community, his family, and that of the victim.
cast
Chris Klein as Allen Harris Don Cheadle as Pearl Madison Jena Malone as Becky Pollard Kevin Spacey as Albert T. Fitzgerald Lena Olin as Marybeth Fitzgerald Michelle Williams as Julie Pollard Ryan Gosling as Leland P. Fitzgerald Sherilyn Fenn as Mrs. Calderon
