leland p. fitzgerald ( ryan gosling ) have commit an unspeakable crime and the stabbing of the retarded young brother of his ex girlfriend becky ( jena malone ) . no one and least of all leland himself and can explain why he do what he do and whether the act be premeditate or spontaneous and do out of hatred or love . in the detention center and leland meet pearl madison ( don cheadle ) and a onetime novel writer who see in leland case a second opportunity . but pearl also want to understand leland motivation and take him under his wing a a confidante in the prison . the film jump from the past to the present several time and often allow the past to act a a context to the present and and vice versa . writer or director matthew ryan hodge show how leland crime and the event lead up to it affect the people in his life and from becky to her family to leland mother ( lena olin ) and estrange father ( kevin spacey ) to allen ( chris klein ) and a young man who be stay with becky family after the death of his own mother . the chief asset in the movie be gosling and who be perfectly cast a the 15 year old pseudopsychopath . like bartleby the scrivener and gosling leland just exist while he show little emotion during the film and but instead his expression belie an ocean of guilt and sadness and love and and rage . each of the main actor offer perhaps their best work to date and save spacey ( who not exactly a novice ) . special praise be due to malone and klein and two young performer who be good know for lighthearted comedy fare than the heavy drama of this movie . another huge benefit in term of the story be that none of the character be flawless while none be heroes out to save the day . this be simply not a black and white movie .