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"From the first ten pages I thought, I love this, I just hope it's the part of Leon. When they said it was I did a little Irish jig around the house because I just felt it was one of the best characters I'd read in a long time. I understand him, exactly what he was thinking and feeling, exactly why he's in the place he's in. I've been in that place myself. I love the restraint, he's not loud, he has episodes of violence, but he holds everything in," said LaPaglia.

LaPaglia describes the film as "That moment in life when you wake up and say 'How the hell did this become my life?' - when your life isn't what you thought it would be. The dreams that you had have never eventuated and suddenly you're living a life of quiet desperation, a life of suburbia, a life of just getting by. And all those dreams you had as a young person seem to have gone and suddenly you own a life you don't want. You think there's something more. And I think that's a devastating moment for a lot of people."

Shooting on "Lantana" began in October 2000 and finished just prior to Christmas. After the final cut of the film was completed in March 2001, a few small screenings took place where it was evident the film resonated with an audience. It conveyed an intimate and confrontational portrait if contemporary life in the context of an urban thriller.

Director Ray Lawrence sums up his impressions of the film by saying, "It's about a time in your life when you start to disappear. It can happen when you're thirty, it can happen when you're fifty. All of a sudden you don't feel that anybody desires you, loves you, and you try to reinvent yourself and that reinvention causes all sorts of problems and turmoil in your life. John Cassavetes said all his films were about love, they were love stories, and this is a love story. It's about people trying to love themselves, people trying to regain their self-esteem and love each other. It's a really difficult thing to cope with somebody else and we all have that problem. And I think that the audience will recognize that. And if it can change your life for a moment, if you can discuss it on the way home, then that's what I'm aiming for."