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Love Liza
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Wikipedia article
'Love Liza' is a 2002 American drama (described as a tragicomedy, or a "comic tragedy" on the film's posters) directed by Todd Louiso and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Jack Kehler, Wayne Duvall, Sarah Koskoff and Stephen Tobolowsky.
Plot
Wilson Joel's (Philip Seymour Hoffman) wife Liza (Annie Morgan) 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 (Kathy Bates) 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 (Sarah Koskoff), 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 (Jack Kehler), a radio control (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 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 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
Filming
Much of the film was shot in Mobile, Alabama.Reception
Jordan Hoffman 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 [after Hoffman's death]". 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' had for Nicolas Cage. However, A. O. Scott 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".
'Love Liza' was released in a small number of movie theaters and earned $210,000.
References
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