Love Liza
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''Love Liza'' is a 2002 American
tragicomedic Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a serious ...
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
directed by
Todd Louiso Todd Louiso (born January 27, 1970) is an American film actor and film director best known for his role as timid record store clerk Dick in '' High Fidelity'', opposite Jack Black and John Cusack. Career Louiso directed his first film in 2002, ...
and starring
Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...
,
Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actor and director. Known for her roles in comedic and dramatic films and television programs, she has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, includ ...
,
Jack Kehler Jack Kehler (May 22, 1946 – May 7, 2022) was an American character actor. He was best known for his role of Marty, a landlord in ''The Big Lebowski''. He also appeared in ''Men in Black II'', ''The Last Boy Scout'', ''Point Break'', ''Wyatt Ear ...
,
Wayne Duvall Wayne Duvall (born May 29, 1958) is an American actor known for appearing as Homer Stokes in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'', as well recurring roles as the television series ''Billions'', ''The District'', ''The Leftovers'', '' BrainDead'', ''The ...
, Sarah Koskoff and
Stephen Tobolowsky Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in ''Groundhog Day'' and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in '' Memento'', as well as such television characters as ...
. The film is written by
Gordy Hoffman Gordon Richard Hoffman (born ) is an American screenwriter and director. He is the older brother of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Biography Early life His mother, Marilyn O'Connor (née Loucks), a native of Waterloo, New York, is a family ...
, a playwright and the elder brother of Philip. ''Love Liza'' debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award Waldo Miller Salt (October 18, 1914 – March 7, 1987) was an American screenwriter who won Academy Awards for both ''Midnight Cowboy'' and '' Coming Home''. Early life and career Salt was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Winifred (n ...
.


Plot

Wilson Joel's wife Liza has, for an inexplicable reason, died by suicide. Wilson's one-night discovers a sealed letter from his wife, which he believes to be her suicide note. In his grief-stricken state and with the added stress of finding the letter, which he cannot bring himself to open and read, he forms an addiction to inhaling gasoline fumes (" huffing"). His mother-in-law Mary Ann tries her best to help her son and deal with her own loss at the same time. She becomes increasingly anxious to know the contents of the letter, but Wilson refuses to open it. To hide his addiction from his coworker Maura, he informs her that the petrol smell in his house is from his hobby of flying remote-controlled planes. To try to engage an ever-distant Wilson, Maura asks her brother-in-law, Denny, a
radio control Radio control (often abbreviated to RC) is the use of control signals transmitted by radio to remotely control a device. Examples of simple radio control systems are garage door openers and keyless entry systems for vehicles, in which a small ...
(RC) hobbyist, to visit Wilson. Knowing Denny will soon visit him, Wilson heads to an RC hobbyist shop to buy a plane, and learns that model planes run on
Glow fuel Glow fuel is a fuel source used in model engines – generally the same or similar fuels can be used in model airplanes, helicopters, cars and boats. Glow fuel can be burned by very simple two-stroke engines or by more complicated four-stroke engin ...
instead of gasoline. When Maura eventually confesses her attraction to Wilson, he runs away from her and begins a road trip to New Orleans. He grows more disoriented as he huffs on the trip, and stumbles upon an RC competition in Slidell, Louisiana. Wilson goes swimming in the lake, disrupting the RC boat races. Denny greets him on the shore with a towel, and explains to all the upset racers that Wilson just lost his wife to suicide. Denny drives Wilson back home. Along the way, he encourages Wilson to open Liza's letter, but he is horrified when Wilson wants to do it in front of him. Wilson's addiction grows out of control, and he loses a work opportunity when a client discovers him huffing glow fuel with neighborhood kids. After breaking into Mary Ann's house to get pictures of Liza, Wilson finds her alone holding Liza's letter. He returns home with the letter and finally opens it. His late wife's final wish is for Wilson to find someone else to love in life, while holding onto her in his heart. After he reads the final words of the letter, "Love, Liza," Wilson strikes a match found inside the letter and burns the letter. The gas fumes in the house ignite his clothes. Wilson peels them off and throws them to the ground, only igniting more fumes on the carpet. In his underwear, he walks out of his burning house down the road in the middle of traffic.


Cast


Production

When Gordy Hoffman wrote the screenplay for ''Love Liza'', he did not originally envision his brother Philip for the lead role. Said Gordy, "In ’96, Phil and I just happened to both go home to Rochester for Labor Day weekend...I’d just finished ''Love Liza'', and I gave it to him to read. I wasn’t even thinking about getting it made, it was just a matter of I’d finished something." Philip said of the script, "It was really, really good. I thought, ''It should get done'', and then it was like, ''I’ll do it''. It wasn’t like he asked me or I asked him.” The film spent over four years in development as the production sought financing and the script went through re-writes. ''Love Liza'' was filmed in
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
and New Orleans in early 2001. Director Todd Louiso flew out Los Angeles-based actors at his own expense to fill out the film's supporting cast.


Reception


Release

''Love Liza'' premiered in January 2002 at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
and went on to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival. At Sundance, the film was awarded the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Gordy Hoffman. The film was picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics and went into
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on December 30, 2002, ultimately grossing $223,426 worldwide.


Critical reception

On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, ''Love Liza'' has an approval rating of 52% based on 87 reviews. The critics' consensus states: "Hoffman's performance is strong, but the lack of character development and story arc makes ''Love Liza'' unsatisfying." Rex Reed of ''The'' ''New York Observer'' praised Hoffman's performance, believing that it could have the same kind of impact on his career as ''
Leaving Las Vegas ''Leaving Las Vegas'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis, and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, having ...
'' had for Nicolas Cage. Todd McCarthy of '' Variety'' wrote "the situations in the film are fresh and inventive and just plain odd enough to keep interest reasonably high. Still, it’s doubtful that the film would register nearly so well without Philip Seymour Hoffman in the leading role. Pudgy, pasty and squinty-eyed, Hoffman would scarcely stand out in a crowd, and yet, as he almost always has in his numerous impressive character turns, the actor here displays a live wire personality that makes him a magnetic figure even when portraying a state of thorough-going misery." However,
A. O. Scott Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis. Early life Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...
of '' The New York Times'' stated that Hoffman's "omnipresence is something of a mixed blessing", given that the protagonist is "more a state of feeling than a character". In 2014,
Jordan Hoffman Jordan Hoffman is an American freelance film critic and former actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his work with ''New York Daily News'', ''The Guardian'', Film.com, ''Vanity Fair (magazine), Vanity Fair'', ''ScreenCrush'', and ...
of '' Vanity Fair'' noted the way the film "tackled depression and substance abuse in a dark-as-hell comedy that takes on an additional layer of sadness fter Hoffman's death.


References


External links


Official website
at
Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, love_liza 2002 films American comedy-drama films Films about drugs Films about suicide Films shot in New Orleans Films shot in Mobile, Alabama Tragicomedy films 2002 comedy-drama films Films about depression Films about grieving Films about widowhood Sony Pictures Classics films 2002 directorial debut films American independent films 2002 independent films Sundance Film Festival award winners 2000s English-language films Films directed by Todd Louiso 2000s American films