Wonderful character development!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Leo is a psychological drama that stars Joseph Fiennes,Elisabeth Shue, Justin Chambers and Sam Shepard.The screenplay was written by Amir Tadjedin and Massy Tadjedin and it was directed by Mehdi Norowzian.A literary drama offering the parallel tales of two wounded souls, director Norowzian's tale of redemption and the struggle to find one's place in life finds an ex-convict's correspondence with a young boy offering hope for the future despite the fact that the boy has yet to find his own place in the world. Believing that her husband has been unfaithful, Mary Bloom embarks on an affair with a young handyman that results in her pregnancy. Racked with guilt when her husband dies in a car accident shortly thereafter, Mary begins to hate her son, Leo, leaving the youngster hungering for affection. Assigned correspondence with a convict for a class project, the withdrawn Leo begins to form a close bond with Stephen, who increasingly relies on his communication with Leo as a form of cathartic repentance. When Stephen is released from jail, he gets a job at a diner where concerned co-workers Vic and Caroline attempt to help him establish himself on the outside. Simultaneously brutalized by local drunk Horace, Stephen decides to leave the diner and search for the boy whose letters carried him through his darkest days. Leo is a well-written drama of psychological depth.The plot simmers along nicely, dipping and weaving between the two story lines flawlessly. But it wasn't enough to be more than just an entertaining movie and nothing more.

I try not to have great hopes for movies, however I was pleasantly surprised. I was afraid that it was going to dark, but instead it offers a very strong main character. Not like a action bondy type, but a rare inquisitive thoughtful man. There are some dark elements to it where people are just cruel. The story time line is not linear, and I was impressed at how well the whole thing ended. Its not really a feel- good type, definitely was a cure for the common movie. While not being perfect, I really enjoyed it.

I agree with the reviewer who wrote that "Leo" is vulnerable to charges of being pretentious. It also dips into melodrama in a couple scenes involving Dennis Hopper's stock villain, and some of the other characters needed to be fleshed out more. However, I would much rather see a first time director tackle a project with the complexity and ambition of "Leo" than to have them make yet another pseudo wry, post modern, Tarantino imitation, or, worse, a boring, routine slasher film. Therefore, I applaud Mehdi Norowzian for his effort, even if his reach may currently exceed his grasp. I will look forward to seeing future efforts from a director who obviously has talent. BTW, I think one of the "external reviews" makes an issue of Norowzian's background in commercial work. I don't understand the negative view of this. Many talented filmmakers got their start directing commercials or music videos. Robert Altman made industrial films before his first, undistinguished feature, which starred future "Billy Jack," Tom McLoughlin. A person has to learn their craft somewhere. There are only so many Orson Welles types who spring forth a genius in their first effort.

Leo is a film made up of two story strands, one detailing the experiences of a newly released prisoner and another tells the tragic tale of a bored 50's housewife whose life takes a downward spiral. Gradually, these two story strands weave together in a predictable fashion, but the film loses none of it's power despite this rather obvious 'twist'.Leo had been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years untill it's recent release in the U.K. and in my opinion it's difficult to see why. From the stunning cinematography employed, to the universally excellent performances, it's a small winner all round. Obviously not a commercial film but so much rubbish is dumped into cinemas nowadays there is a lot of room for films like this.As stated above, the film has two plotlines running together. The way in which the director takes us to one, and then the other is done cleverly and in no way detracts from the flow of the picture. The cinematography is a times breathtaking. In the scene in which the character of Steven is released from prison, the barbed wire fences behind him look almost beautiful in the sunlight's reflection. Combined with quick edits of his character running against a clear blue sky, the sequence is quite exhilirating.The performances in Leo also deserve praise. Joseph Fiennes as Steven is excellent, watch out for the scene in which he confronts Dennis Hoppers character in the back room of a diner.Elisabeth Shue is as good as in Leaving Las Vegas, if not better. Her descent into alcoholism from straight laced housewife is acted perfectly, her reaction to some devastating news delivered by two policemen is heartbreakingly delivered.Even if the final revelation is painfully predictable, (though there is a quite unexpected plot point revealed late on) and some of the supporting characters are drawn in very broad strokes, Leo ultimately delivers. It's well directed, well acted, looks gorgeous and is quietly moving in it's own way. And you'll still be thinking about it as you walk away from the theater.How many films can you say that about these days?