LET HIM GO
****
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Screenwriter: Thomas Bezucha, from Larry Watson’s eponymous novel.
Principal cast:
Diane Lane
Kevin Costner
Lesley Manville
Kayli Carter
Booboo Stewart
Jeffrey Donovan
Will Brittain
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 113 mins.
Australian release date: 26 November 2020.
Thomas Bezucha’s drama Let Him Go is about families, good and bad ones, close and loving ones and dark and twisted ones, all guided by their personal philosophies of what it means to be ‘family’. The film opens with a domestic scenario in which a doting grandmother, Margaret Blackledge (Diane Lane), abruptly takes over the bathing of her grandson Jimmy while ticking off her daughter-in-law Lorna (Kayli Carter) for not checking the water temperature. Immediately we sense there is some tension between the women, that they’re not exactly close. In the background is Margaret’s husband George (Kevin Costner), a taciturn, retired Montana sheriff, who has the lived-in face of a man who has spent too many years outdoors and seen too much. The two generations live together on the Blackledge ranch, where George and son James (Ryan Bruce) work the land and Margaret trains horses. This scene of domestic unease is shattered when James, Lorna’s husband and Jimmy’s dad, fails to return after a ride on his semi-wild horse.
Three years later, in 1966, Lorna marries Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain) and moves into town. When Margaret drops in for a visit, she is devastated to discover that the newlyweds have left without saying a word and, of course, Jimmy is with them. Margaret insists that she is going to find them, refusing to accept that their only grandson has disappeared from their lives, and delivers an ultimatum to George to accompany her. In his world-weary way, George says, “Sometimes that’s all we’ve got Margaret, a list of what we’ve lost,” but he knows that he can’t let his wife go alone. The search takes them to North Dakota, where they finally encounter the Weboy clan, led by its thoroughly disturbing matriarch Blanche (Lesley Manville). She has quite a different idea of family to the Blackledges', and she’s not about to relinquish control over ‘her boys’.
The characters in this neo-Western tale are all strong and played by a fine cast. Manville is the epitome of malevolence, controlling her sons’ every action. It looks like the British actress thoroughly enjoyed herself in the role - it’s certainly a far cry from her recent performance as the long-suffering Dolores Hope in Misbehaviour. Lane is pitch-perfect as the concerned, but almost suffocating, grandparent, a driven woman who won’t take no for an answer. Costner is more subdued as a grieving man who loves his wife and can see no other option than to support her in her quest, despite his own misgivings. His George is dialled right down; he’s a man of few words but his concerns are etched on Costner’s face. There are a couple of great supporting actors, too: Booboo Stewart, playing a young Native American the couple meet in their travels, and Jeffrey Donovan as a particularly creepy member of the Weboy family.
Let Him Go is a study in mood and tension. “It’s the kind of movie I grew up with in the ‘70s and the ‘80s - Ordinary People, Kramer vs. Kramer - these relationship movies about families and couples,” says Bezucha. “The characters of George and Margaret, you can’t really separate from each other. They’ve been married that long. I think Margaret has turned somewhat away from her husband into her own grief. George is trying to reconnect with her and indulges this [trip]. I don’t think that George believes that Margaret is going to get their grandson back. He just wants to give Margaret an opportunity to say goodbye to the grandson so that she can be at peace with the loss. This journey, it brings them back together.”
Although it is ultimately very violent, this is not your usual thriller; it emphasises family values, the behaviour of mothers, the effect they have on their children’s lives and the give-and-take that goes on in family relationships. It also shows how love is often never fully appreciated until something happens to test it. Let Him Go is as majestic as its physical locations.
Screenwriter: Thomas Bezucha, from Larry Watson’s eponymous novel.
Principal cast:
Diane Lane
Kevin Costner
Lesley Manville
Kayli Carter
Booboo Stewart
Jeffrey Donovan
Will Brittain
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 113 mins.
Australian release date: 26 November 2020.
Thomas Bezucha’s drama Let Him Go is about families, good and bad ones, close and loving ones and dark and twisted ones, all guided by their personal philosophies of what it means to be ‘family’. The film opens with a domestic scenario in which a doting grandmother, Margaret Blackledge (Diane Lane), abruptly takes over the bathing of her grandson Jimmy while ticking off her daughter-in-law Lorna (Kayli Carter) for not checking the water temperature. Immediately we sense there is some tension between the women, that they’re not exactly close. In the background is Margaret’s husband George (Kevin Costner), a taciturn, retired Montana sheriff, who has the lived-in face of a man who has spent too many years outdoors and seen too much. The two generations live together on the Blackledge ranch, where George and son James (Ryan Bruce) work the land and Margaret trains horses. This scene of domestic unease is shattered when James, Lorna’s husband and Jimmy’s dad, fails to return after a ride on his semi-wild horse.
Three years later, in 1966, Lorna marries Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain) and moves into town. When Margaret drops in for a visit, she is devastated to discover that the newlyweds have left without saying a word and, of course, Jimmy is with them. Margaret insists that she is going to find them, refusing to accept that their only grandson has disappeared from their lives, and delivers an ultimatum to George to accompany her. In his world-weary way, George says, “Sometimes that’s all we’ve got Margaret, a list of what we’ve lost,” but he knows that he can’t let his wife go alone. The search takes them to North Dakota, where they finally encounter the Weboy clan, led by its thoroughly disturbing matriarch Blanche (Lesley Manville). She has quite a different idea of family to the Blackledges', and she’s not about to relinquish control over ‘her boys’.
The characters in this neo-Western tale are all strong and played by a fine cast. Manville is the epitome of malevolence, controlling her sons’ every action. It looks like the British actress thoroughly enjoyed herself in the role - it’s certainly a far cry from her recent performance as the long-suffering Dolores Hope in Misbehaviour. Lane is pitch-perfect as the concerned, but almost suffocating, grandparent, a driven woman who won’t take no for an answer. Costner is more subdued as a grieving man who loves his wife and can see no other option than to support her in her quest, despite his own misgivings. His George is dialled right down; he’s a man of few words but his concerns are etched on Costner’s face. There are a couple of great supporting actors, too: Booboo Stewart, playing a young Native American the couple meet in their travels, and Jeffrey Donovan as a particularly creepy member of the Weboy family.
Let Him Go is a study in mood and tension. “It’s the kind of movie I grew up with in the ‘70s and the ‘80s - Ordinary People, Kramer vs. Kramer - these relationship movies about families and couples,” says Bezucha. “The characters of George and Margaret, you can’t really separate from each other. They’ve been married that long. I think Margaret has turned somewhat away from her husband into her own grief. George is trying to reconnect with her and indulges this [trip]. I don’t think that George believes that Margaret is going to get their grandson back. He just wants to give Margaret an opportunity to say goodbye to the grandson so that she can be at peace with the loss. This journey, it brings them back together.”
Although it is ultimately very violent, this is not your usual thriller; it emphasises family values, the behaviour of mothers, the effect they have on their children’s lives and the give-and-take that goes on in family relationships. It also shows how love is often never fully appreciated until something happens to test it. Let Him Go is as majestic as its physical locations.