Let Him Go
Ratings: 3.8/5
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Producers: Mitchell Kaplan, Paula Mazur, Thomas Bezucha
Genre: Neo-Western Drama
Language: English
Release Date: 6 November 2020
Released In: Theatres
Star Cast: Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Lesley Manville, Will Brittain, Jeffrey Donovan, Kayli Carter, Booboo Stewart
Plot:
Upon the death of their son, a retired sheriff and his wife fight to rescue their widowed daughter-in-law and young grandson from a dangerous off-grid family.
Review:
The movie is adapted from Larry Watson's 2013 novel of the same name and tilts towards a thriller mode by writer-director Thomas Bezucha (The Family Stone) pumping a flood of blood and adrenaline.
Subtle moments in the film set the scene and establish the themes of regret and redemption in ‘Let Him Go’. This is the kind of solid, grown-up drama we don’t see very often anymore. In a world of superhero blockbusters, this low-key throwback of a Western is the stuff of timeless cinema. In its quiet rhythms and vast beauty, it is also fortified with strong performances and, also by shocking moments of violence.
Director and writer Thomas Bezucha take the form of Clint Eastwood’s style, both in its setting and in the storytelling. Bezucha makes clear who these characters are from the get-go in the clear and simple ways they interact with each other. He also establishes an air of danger for the young child who will find himself at the center of the story’s conflict. It is quick but effective in putting us on edge.
Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are in top form as George and Margaret Blackledge, a retired sheriff and his horsewoman wife living on a Montana ranch in the early 1960s. Working with cinematographer Guy Godfree, Bezucha drenches his audience in beautiful blue skies with fluffy, white clouds. Lane and Costner share a strong connection as a long-married Midwestern couple especially having played Ma and Pa Kent in the DC universe, speaking of blockbusters. The comfort of their daily interactions provides the foundation for the way they’ll ultimately fight for each other when the time comes.
There comes a particular scene when to rescue her only grandson and the last connection to her only child, Margaret quickly jumps into action and she did it gracefully. Lane is very charismatic in every situation to get what she wants. Costner, by contrast, is stoic. There is also a matter of George’s drinking, which ‘Let Him Go’ introduces as a defining character trait without overdramatizing it in a cliched manner.
Being the strongest essence, Blanche and Margaret - none is willing to let anything, or anyone go, and that essential character work keeps the whole narrative go wild!
