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Absolutely the worst movie.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I once saw Love Liza in 2003. At the time I wasn't overly interested in movies. I was young, and had bigger things on my mind. But for some reason Love Liza struck a chord with me. Maybe because I was kind've going through a hard time myself, or maybe because I had been surrounded by people affected by depression. One thing I know though, is that I never forgot that I enjoyed it. Now, 14 years later, I have finally watched it again, at a time where I love movies. I love poking holes in movies, and seeing how they're paced, the cinematography, the acting, the writing, everything. Now that I know everything I know, I can say that Love Liza is a near on masterpiece, and a massively intelligent insight into the life of one person suffering depression. I love the way it burns slowly in the beginning, and then becomes this uneasy machine throughout. Its a perfect example of a movie which needs nothing but its story. No stunts, no special effects, nothing fancy, just great writing, and an even greater actor. This is a movie I will comfortably watch once every 10 years, to see how I can relate to it in every stage of my life.

Wilson Joel (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is quietly suffering after his wife Liza's unexplained suicide. He finds a note from her but can't bring himself to read it. Her mother Mary Ann Bankhead (Kathy Bates) tries to help. After a breakdown at work, he's asked to take time off. He starts to develop an unhealthy addiction to gasoline and joins the world of model plane enthusiasts.Philip Seymour Hoffman does a brilliant job sucking the life out of his character. He is one of the best actors of his times. However the movie is lifeless. It's 90 minutes of waiting for Wilson to open a letter. The movie has no drama and no tension. It's not much of anything other than PSH.

I don't see how you can discuss this movie at all without spoiling. Incidentally, anyone who goes reading IMDb comments without expecting spoilers is, frankly, a goddamn retard.Watching this movie may be the most horrible experience I've had in years. You might think from me saying that that I would give it a bad ranking, but here it is as a 10. Why? That's a toughie. Let's get this one solved right off the top. Because it wrecked me emotionally and left me sobbing like a baby.Well, I'll explain. Hoffman's performance is exquisite. I'm not sure how many people will recognize that it is.Here's the deal. The protagonist's wife commits suicide using carbon monoxide. The protagonist has her suicide note, but is terrified to read it, because he fears that it is accusatory. So he hides it. And, perhaps to mirror his wife's suicide experience dying from carbon monoxide, he develops a habit of huffing gasoline. (However, as the movie is vague about this, he may have already had this habit; his own habit may have been why his wife committed suicide; and in fact her choice of method may have been inspired by his own habit.) As you may have already figured out, the protagonist proceeds to destroy his life in every way imaginable. This movie makes Leaving Las Vegas look like Singin' in the Rain. As horrible as Las Vegas was, the protagonist chose his own demise, then set out to accomplish it. He was the prime actor in his life. By comparison, Hoffman's character is absolutely hopeless, a victim, and struggles helplessly in misery with no meaningful choices to make.If you've ever suffered through the death of someone you loved who offed themselves for no good reason, you will be tortured by this movie. But despite this, you really have to see it. And if you don't get this movie, you're better off.I don't know how or why Philip Seymour Hoffman acted this role. Maybe I'll forgive him for it some day. It's a masterpiece, but not one you really want to see. If you have the pain this movie discusses frozen deep in your soul, this movie is the ice-axe which will break it open.Enjoy your misery.

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.