Let Him Go (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, November 06

R Running Time: 114 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Can Kevin Costner and Diane Lane be in every movie, as parents or grandparents, for the foreseeable future?

  • Fans of the slow burn style of a thriller, with hints of a Western laid over the top, will find a lot to like here.

  • Gripping and compelling, with great performances.

NO

  • The film makes a sharp tonal shift in the second half which might prove to be a bit too jarring for some viewers.

  • Drenched in desolation, Let Him Go is hardly the movie to choose for something uplifting right now.

  • Requires a decent willing suspension of disbelief to maneuver through a few foundational scenes which build to an interesting slate of characters and a polarizing ending.


OUR REVIEW

An uneasy calm opens Let Him Go, a neo-Western thriller which uses a family’s pain and anguish to build to a story of potential revenge and retribution. Written and directed by Thomas Bezucha (The Family Stone), and adapted from a novel by Larry Watson, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane play grieving parents who simply want to reconnect with a grandson they have not seen in quite some time.

Margaret and George Blackledge live in Montana with their son James (Ryan Bruce), his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter), and their newborn baby, Jimmy. Quiet and calm, George is retired. Margaret is essentially a horsewoman and perhaps most proudly, a grandmother.

It is no spoiler to share that when Margaret sees James’ horse return riderless one afternoon, she screams in terror. The significance is immediate: When George heads out to search for James, he finds him dead from a riding accident.

Three or so years go by and Lorna has remarried. Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain) is seemingly nice enough, but signifies a new life and beginning for their former daughter-in-law. Margaret, especially, never quite bonded with Laura and those fissures, further exploited with a new family and husband, mean time spent with her grandson will likely become greatly limited.

Bezucha starts us with a deliberate, measured, steady, slow-burning pace. Guy Godfree’s cinematography adds great physical and emotional space to the film’s desolate feel. Costner and Lane are dynamic together, with Costner’s George, a stoic, reserved, man of few words and Lane’s Margaret, resourceful, caring, and inherently resilient.

If there’s any issues with a really strong first half of the film, Bezucha wobbles a bit when looking beyond George and Margaret’s characters. A development involving Donnie, Lorna, and her son, is an obvious one and kickstarts the film’s pivot from domestic drama to an eventual gothic, Western thriller.

Let Him Go is full of emotions and investigates the way people process them. George’s pride is counterbalanced by Margaret’s more forthcoming caring concern. They cannot escape their torment. Lorna is trying to run away from a painful tragedy, caught up in a ring of fire that she has no realistic way of stepping away from. A cloud of sadness hovers around almost every interaction within the film, as does a particular kind of stubbornness.

Margaret’s the reason the film shifts to the Dakotas. She decides on her own to go find her grandson when Donnie and Lorna inexplicably pick up and move out of town without warning. George joins his wife, somewhat begrudgingly at first, but recognizes that she may be walking into unforeseen danger. When they arrive in Donnie and Lorna’s new town, and begin asking around about Donnie and the Weboy family, people turn pale. They appear shook and uneasy.

Let Him Go reaches its eventual destination and the unsettling Jeffrey Donovan, playing Donnie’s uncle, is cocky and creepy. And when Lesley Manville blasts into the film as the Weboy matriarch, her energy and presence chews up all the scenery. Her performance does give the film a sudden jolt and portends the fateful journey the film is traveling.

Loose in some key moments, Bezucha’s screenplay can’t quite solidify the motivations of the supporting characters who will ultimately play important roles in telling his story. One character in particular, Peter (Booboo Stewart), a young rancher who crosses paths with the Blackledge family, is intriguing, but vastly underwritten.

In the film’s second half, Let Him Go intensifies, proves a bit jarring with violence at times, but remains exceptionally well-performed by Costner and Lane. The veteran actors effortlessly build a tenderness to the story and create a personal connection for the viewer.

This is key, as Let Him Go needs that emotional core to center us and anchor us to the story, while also allowing us to forgive some of the more disappointing oversights and indulgences Bezucha cannot help but embrace.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Lesley Manville, Kayli Carter, Booboo Stewart, Jeffrey Donovan, Will Brittain, Ryan Bruce, Adam Stafford, Connor Mackay.

Director: Thomas Bezucha
Written by: Thomas Bezucha
Adapted from the novel “Let Him Go” by Larry Watson
Release Date: November 6, 2020
Focus Features