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Movie Review: Let Him Go

Mike Tyrkus

The latest film to bear the moniker “starring Kevin Costner” above its title is the new dramatic thriller Let Him Go. While the film defies a specific categorization in any single genre, it miraculously escapes the fate of trying to be too many things at one time and is simply a splendidly told tale featuring a plethora of remarkably talented actors.

When we first meet the Blackledges, they are introduced as the practical paragon of the idealized American Dream. They are a close family living idyllically on the family’s sprawling Montana ranch. There is the patriarch George (Kevin Costner), a now retired local sheriff; Margaret (Diane Lane), an apparently devoted, loving wife; and their son, James (Ryan Bruce) and his family, wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) and son Jimmy. But, all good things must inevitably come to an end, and their world is shattered when James is thrown from his horse and killed.

After a few years later, Lorna is attempting to rebuild her life by marrying Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain). Once married, the couple move from the Blackledge ranch and into town. Then, while driving around town one day, Margaret is witness to Donnie assault both Lorna and Jimmy. But, before they are able to sort anything out, Jimmy has moved his new family out of town and relocated them to live with his family, the less-than-law abiding Weboy clan. Of course, this means that George and Margaret immediately head out on the road to search for their grandson, the only tie they have left to their late son.

Kevin Costner and Diane Lane in “Let Him Go.”

This leads them directly to a confrontation with the entire Weboy family, led by matriarch Blanche (Leslie Manville) and Donnie’s somewhat off-putting uncle Bill (Jeffrey Donovan) – who want to raise the boy as one of their own and keep him away from the Blackledges – which becomes frighteningly obvious when the family reveals their true barbaric nature after the plan to rescue Lorna and Jimmy is discovered. What ensues then is a bit of a mish-mosh combining a classic gunslinger Western with a grittier, stylized revenge drama. Surprisingly, the two tacit tones work quite well together and are aided by fine performances from all involved. Costner is especially superb as a destroyed father seeking redemption for outliving his son and Lane is achingly relatable as the equally distraught mother torn apart by her anger over her boy’s untimely death and her love for her only grandchild.

Let Him Go is directed by Thomas Bezucha, whose previous outing, 2011’s Selena Gomez vehicle Monte Carlo, offered no indication that such a stylized piece of entertaining genre filmmaking was forthcoming from the filmmaker. (Bezucha also penned the rather succinct screenplay, which is based on Larry Warson’s novel from 2013.) The film itself harkens back to similarly-themed genre films of the Seventies and late-Sixties that spent most of their time setting a mood before all hell broke loose and the consequences were left to sort out during the end credits.

There is a lot to like about Let Him Go, but be warned that this is not a typical crime, drama, action, thriller, or even Western in any specific sense of any of those particular genres. The film gradually builds to its climax like a ticking timebomb placed in a suitcase under a bed that only the audience is aware exists. But, that angst is precisely what ultimately makes Let Him Go such a rewarding filmic experience.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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