Love Liza (2002)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Todd Louiso

Writer:

Gordy Hoffman (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 January 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A Comic Tragedy

Plot:

Following the unexplained suicide of his wife Liza, website designer Wilson Joel (Philip Seymour Hoffman) turns to gasoline fumes and remote control gaming while avoiding an inevitable conflict with his mother-in-law (Kathy Bates).

Plot Keywords:

Mother In Law | Suicide | Model Airplane | Sleeping In Car | Mental Breakdown

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Wilson Joel
J.D. Walsh	...	Bern (as JD Walsh)
Jimmy Raskin	...	Pad
Kathy Bates	...	Mary Ann Bankhead
Erika Alexander	...	Brenda
Sarah Koskoff	...	Maura
Mark Hannibal	...	Waiter with Drink
Jim Wise	...	Bland Man
Trace Turville	...	Bland Woman
Wayne Duvall	...	Gas Station
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Tom Bailey
Kevin Breznahan	...	Jim
Jennifer Keddy	...	Lynne
David Lenthall	...	Hobbytown USA Clerk (as David Lenthal)
Jack Kehler	...	Denny

MPAA:

Rated R for drug use, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Spain:13 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Audubon Zoo - 6500 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Kinowelt Filmproduktion

Quotes:

Denny: So what do you got in there?
Wilson Joel: What do I got?
Denny: Yeah, Maura said you have a plane.
Wilson Joel: Yeah. It's really, really... I just got it.
Denny: Oh yeah, when?
Wilson Joel: Oh, not today. I mean... not today! You know?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "High Chaparall: (#2.5)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Happy As Larry

Beautiful, Sad, and a Little Bit Wacky

I saw this film at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival. This is the feature directorial debut of actor Todd Louiso (and yes, he talks and acts exactly like his character in High Fidelity). Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Wilson Joel, a man whose wife has committed suicide before the film begins. We follow Wilson as he tries to carry on, unable to open the suicide note she left for him, becoming addicted to sniffing gasoline fumes, and trying to make friends among radio-control car/boat/plane enthusiasts. If it sounds a bit wacky, it is. It's also beautiful and very very sad. Hoffman is a genius at playing lovable sad sacks, and he's even better than usual here, carrying the entire picture on his slumped shoulders. The wonderful Jack Kehler (who played the artistic superintendent in The Big Lebowski) provides excellent comic relief. Philip's brother Gordy Hoffman wrote the screenplay, and the film took four years to get made. Obviously a labour of love. A gorgeous melancholy soundtrack from Jim O'Rourke adds immeasurably to an already powerful film.