LOVE LIZA American Directions

Winner of the 2002 Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance, LOVE LIZA is a taut, witty, disparate character study fueled by the arresting performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Wilson Joel’s (Hoffman) wife has committed suicide, leaving him alone to cope with his loss. Although his mother-in-law (Kathy Bates) tries to help, Wilson is numb, finding solace and oblivion in the fumes of gasoline cans and model airplane fuel. He finds the escape he craves in the company of remote-control model enthusiasts.

LOVE LIZA narrates its character through an audacious structure of action and inaction. Supported by Todd Louise’s direction, Gordy Hoffman’s dialogue and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s performance, the film depicts one man’s battle to construct a theoretical order out of the chaos of grief and existence as a whole.