Grief and gasoline are the main plot elements in Todd Louiso's debut feature, a sporadically piercing but uneven study of a man traumatized by the suicide of his wife. Hapless, overweight computer geek Wilson Joel (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is thrown into an emotional tailspin by the death of Liza, and even his sympathetic mother-in-law (Kathy Bates) is unable to help. In his aimless descent, he falls into two related obsessions: a mania for model airplanes, and an addiction to sniffing the gas that fuels them. A further complication is that Wilson has found a note left behind by Liza, but can't bring himself to open it; the dramatic assumption being that doing so will finally bring him closure. The basic problem with Love Liza is that while the script has powerful moments, they never cohere into a satisfying whole, as the film is more episodic character study than finished narrative. Still, Hoffman's astonishingly convincing portrait of a man at the end of his rope is enough to make this well worth watching. Recommended, with reservations. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Todd Louiso, writer Gordy Hoffman, and costar Philip Seymour Hoffman; selected filmographies for Hoffman and costar Kathy Bates; and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a small film with a powerful central performance.] (F. Swietek)
Love Liza
Columbia TriStar, 90 min., R, VHS: $103.99, DVD: $24.95, May 27 Volume 18, Issue 3
Love Liza
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