Diagonaldi Very well executed

Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Chris Smith (RockPortReview) Phillip Seymour Hoffman's death at the grip of drug addiction has taken another supremely gifted artist from this world. Hoffman's work in film and sage will be sorely missed. From his everyman looks to his grasp of the human condition he was definitely a king among men. For my next bunch of reviews I'll focus on many of the smaller independent films that Hoffman so often shined. In 2001's "Love Liza" a man struggles to deal with the sudden suicide of his wife (Liza) and his personal spiral into some deep dark places. The examination of his life and his questionable future The film was directed by Todd Louiso and co-stars Kathy Bates and Jack Kehler. It also won the Screen writing Award at Sundance.Wilson Joel is your typical geeky web developer who comes home to find his wife has killed herself, leaving him with a bunch of unanswered questions. Was it his fault? How could this have happened? He is consumed with grief and looking for a way out he starts huffing gas fumes to get high. Instead of food he keeps a red plastic gas can in his fridge. "Do you smell Gas?" is a question heard more than once. The plot revolves around a suicide note that he can't bring himself to open. Wilson's mother in-law, Mary Ann (Bates), grieves the loss of her daughter and her relationship with Wilson is pretty awkward to say the least. Does she blame him? Everybody at work is very supportive of his situation but after one of the many lies he tells a new "best friend" is forced upon him. Thinking that Wilson is into radio control planes, Denny (Kehler) a real enthusiast, comes over so see his plane. Wilson wants nothing more than to be alone and huff gas, passing out wherever he may be. He is going down a tough road and needs a friend, but most people are not willing get him the help he really needs. He buys a plane from a hobby shop and starts to huff the special fuel that they run on. Him and Denny have some fun together at a Radio Control competition and discuss his situation. He has to read the letter eventually but when? and where?Wilson finally has to deal with these pent up feelings and frustrations and decides to open the letter. "Love Liza" is fantastically cast and acted, its a character piece that really hits hard. Although it does have its comedic moments. Hoffman's performance is superb and like a lot of his roles you can see the real person behind the character. "Love Liza" is available on DVD, so search it out and give it a watch.

randerson370 The most useless, depressing movie ever! No hero. No tension. No humor. There is no reason to watch this movie...ever. Hoffman is OK I guess, but his acting in this film ranges from catatonic to asleep. I don't mind depressing movies necessarily (Happiness, Weather Man for example are good ones) but this is just a waste of time. Kathy Bates is under-utilized, the landlord from The Big Lebowski is OK. I mean, a main character you don't like and don't care about? Why? SPOILER: the suicide note that you have been waiting for the whole movie is dumb, and the ending just leaves you wondering why. Why to the whole bloody thing!

Nick Jensen Fantastic. I saw this film at Sundance a long time ago and recently rented it. I forgot just how much I enjoyed this film. I like the way the film moves through time and space without any over-arching plot contrivance. It is simple and sad and fantastically written and acted.PSH is a great actor and I have yet to see him in a film that is bad. I just rented Boogie Nights again and he was unbelievable in it. He is truly one of my favorite actors.This film goes down on my all time favorite list alongside films like Downhill Racer, The Taste of Cherry, The Brown Bunny and the Parallax View.

Al Rodbell I watched "Love Lisa" on IFC at home, after passing up actually seeing the recording from our TIVO for weeks. The brief description, something like, " A man sniffs gasoline after his wife commits suicide." just seemed too depressing. As we finally got into the movie, with extra appreciation of Hoffman's acting skills now that he has his Oscar, the first hour or so seemed to be going nowhere. It was looking like just another pretentious artsy production that happened to win the lottery of getting funded.But it was intriguing. We learned nothing about the relationship between Hoffman's character, Wilson, and his deceased wife. And then there is Kathy Bates as the wife's mother, whose character is curiously undefined. She seemed sympathetic but not connected to either survivor or daughter.Yes, this is an "artsy" film, but the question is, was something conveyed by the lack of convention, by not giving any information about the characters that we would normally need for understanding or for empathy? Wilson pain was only manifested in his need for release in a gasoline soaked rag that he inhaled deeply to numb the hurt. And he wanted to soar, like his model airplane that also need the fuel to come alive. The acuity of his pain was only evident at odd moments, like when his business associate indicated a romantic interest in him. His only response was the sharp anguish of being reminded of what he had with his wife, that was gone forever.And Kathy Bates' single line, as she yelled out the window to Wilson, in accusation and remorse, defined who she was instantly. "You had everything" First said about his belongings that she had removed, and then, with passion and pain, about the life he had with her daughter. "Love Lisa" is not "artsy" it is art. It conveyed a great truth, a single truth, through its chosen medium. Entertainment, not on your life! This movie hurts, because it was a tincture of the agony that this man felt as his wife took her own life. It is a hidden hurt, yet it was deep and immutable. He could run, he could dull it with petrochemicals, but he could not make it go away.We know nothing about Lisa, whether she had intractable depression, a fatal disease, or simply a doomed persona that reached it's inevitable climax at that moment. We do not know whether Wilson could have prevented her action. This narrow selective focus on one man which seemed so forced, was exactly what was needed to tell this story, this very true story of human suffering.