Leo (2002)

Director:

Mehdi Norowzian

Writers:

Massy Tadjedin (written by) &
Amir Tadjedin (written by)

Release Date:

12 March 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The boy you were is not the man you are.

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Ex Convict | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Joseph Fiennes	...	Stephen
Elisabeth Shue	...	Mary Bloom
Justin Chambers	...	Ryan Eames
Sam Shepard	...	Vic
Dennis Hopper	...	Horace
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Caroline
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Brynne
Jake Weber	...	Ben Bloom
Davis Sweatt	...	Leopold - age 11
James Middleton	...	Louis
Don Henderson Baker	...	Jack (as Don Baker)
David Burke	...	Thomas Kingsley
Amie Quigley	...	Ruth Livingston
Andrew Ruse	...	Mark
Zac Epstein	...	Kid #1

Also Known As:

Leopold Bloom (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality and violent content.

Runtime:

Canada:103 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:104 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Argentina:16 | UK:15 | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-15 | Norway:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Freewheel Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: A letter addressed to Oxford, Mississippi, clearly has the ZIP Code 64933. The ZIP Code for Oxford, Mississippi, is 38655. There is no city with the ZIP shown in the film; ZIP's beginning with "649" would be near Kansas City, Missouri.

Lots of ambition, little back-up talent

LEO is the kind of film few people will have heard of--and that your local video store dealer will try to get you to rent because he knows nothing about it, either, and wants you to check it out for him. That's what happened to me, at least. And with a cast this interesting, why not? Let me tell you why not. This is a very ambitious attempt to deal with themes of identity, child abuse, guilt, redemption and acceptance (all wrapped around James Joyce and his Ulysses, for Christ sake!)--with almost none of the requisite writing or directing talent to back up all that ambition. The director appears to have relied upon his good cast, who undoubtedly came aboard due to the ambitious script. But acting talent can only go so far; here, it stops well short of productivity. Elizabeth Shue is particularly wasted--emoting to beat the band in a role that is one-note (well, one-and-one-half) and tiresome. A young actor named Davis Sweatt does wonders with the main character as an adolescent, and Joseph Fiennes is fine, too. Deborah Kara Unger gets abused again (she's got to stop this sort of thing), Dennis Hopper is his usual nut case, and Sam Shepard's laconic and macho. By film's end, almost anything good has fallen away and what is left seems like pure pretension. It's rare to see so much possibility come to so little.