LET HIM GO : Tuesday 1st December 2020.

'LET HIM GO' is an M-Rated American neo-Western drama offering that I saw earlier this week at my local multiplex. Directed, Co-Produced and written for the screen by Thomas Bezucha whose sporadic film making career takes in just three credits being 'Big Eden' in 2000, 'The Family Stone' in 2005 and 'Monte Carlo' in 2011. This film is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Larry Watson. Originally slated for a US release in late August, this date was pushed back due to COVID-19 to early November and has so far taken close to US$9.5M at the Box Office. Now getting a release in Australia from last week, the film has generated largely positive Reviews. 

Set in the early to mid-'60's in rural Montana, retired Sheriff George Blackledge (Kevin Costner), lives with his wife Margaret (Diane Lane), their 26 year old son James (Ryan Bruce), his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) and their newborn son, Jimmy. James has been training a horse for some time but admits that the horse isn't quite there yet. After breakfast he takes the horse out to check on some fence lines on their property. While Margaret is giving baby Jimmy a bath in the kitchen sink, the horse comes galloping back to the house, without James. Margaret alerts George, who jumps on his own steed and goes in search of James, only to find his still limp lifeless body down near a creek. It is assumed that James was thrown from the horse, and broke his neck in the process. 

We then fast forward three years and Lorna is getting married to Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain). Present at the wedding are George and Margaret, and young Jimmy who is now three years old. No one is in attendance from the Weboy family. In the local town Donnie, Lorna and Jimmy are living in a sparsely furnished rental apartment, which Margaret and George visit from time to time to meet with their grandson. One day while out shopping, Margaret observes from her car, Donnie physically striking both young Jimmy and Lorna. Sometime shortly thereafter Margaret has baked a cake which she takes around to Lorna's apartment, only to be told by the landlady that the family hurriedly packed up their belongings and left at midnight the evening before, with no indication as to their future whereabouts.

 

Needless to say this gives Margaret grave concerns for Jimmy's safety. So much so that she decides to pack up the car with essential supplies and go off in search of Lorna and Jimmy and bring them back to their Montana ranch. George arrives home and is confronted with Margaret sat at the kitchen table ready to leave. She explains what she saw, the fact that they have exited town quick smart under cover of darkness, and her fears for the safety and wellbeing of Jimmy. Reluctantly George agrees to go along with Margaret's plan, and they leave together.

They head out of Montana and into North Dakota stopping off at Forsyth and then carrying on to Gladstone where they are told they can find Donnie's uncle, Bill Weboy (Jeffrey Donovan) who may be able to shed some light on the family's whereabouts. Their initial meeting out on the street is a little stilted, but Margaret is steadfast in her determination and refuses to be intimidated by a Weboy. Bill invites them into his house and calls his sister to arrange a family dinner that night at the Weboy homestead. He tells George and Margaret to be back at his place at 4:00pm that afternoon, because they would never ever find the homestead on their own. They duly arrive at 4:00pm and George follows Bill closely behind all the way there to the remote homestead.

At dinner, they meet the Weboy family, including Blanche (Lesley Manville) the intimidating and disturbing matriarch of the clan and her other two sons Marvin and Elton (Adam Stafford and Connor Mackay respectively). Blanche's charms do not last long as the dinner conversation progresses and George begins to feel increasingly uneasy with the situation they find themselves in. When Donnie, Lorna and Jimmy arrive home late, Margaret embraces Jimmy and attempts to carry the young lad out of the house but this very rapidly goes south. Not feeling welcome anymore, they leave the Weboy house.

The next day George and Margaret meet Lorna during her lunch break from work at a local cafe. They convince her to leave with them. She then plans to leave her home at midnight, and tells them to wait for her at their hotel, saying that she'll be there by 2;00am and that they are to leave immediately because the Weboys will be hot on her tail, and they'll have no hesitation in killing her. At about 2:00am instead of Lorna, the Weboys having supposedly caught Lorna sneaking out, come knocking on the door at the hotel. Margaret tries to convince Blanche by telling her about the physical abuse he did to Lorna and her child, but Blanche instead tells Donnie to hit Margaret. George intervenes and later pulls out his pistol but is overpowered by the Weboy brothers who outnumber him four to one. Blanche pulls out a hatchet from a sack and orders Donnie to hack of his fingers so that he'll no longer be able to point a pistol at them. Donnie complies with his mothers wishes and brings down the hatchet on George's restrained hand, cutting off his four fingers. The Weboys leave.

After visiting the local hospital and having emergency surgery on his hand, the local Sheriff (Greg Lawson) arrives to hear George and Margarets side of the story having already heard the Weboys. The Sheriff sides with the Weboys and tells George that it will be in his best interests to leave. They do so but due to George's poor health and injury, have to make a stop at Peter's (Booboo Stewart) house, who is a Native American nineteen year old man they had met while on the way to the Weboys' estate and whom they befriended. Peter lives alone in a wooden shack out in the prairie with only his horse for company. 

That night, George takes the car and leaves for the Weboys house alone. After finding a shotgun propped up against the back door with two new cartridges close by and starting a fire using a dumped can of fuel, he slinks through the house in the dead of night seeking Lorna. Locating Lorna, he keeps Donnie, who was sleeping beside her, at gunpoint and asks her to leave with Jimmy. In a moment of distraction Donnie alerts the others, but Lorna is stopped by Bill. Blanche comes hurriedly out of her bedroom hearing the commotion brandishing a pistol, but accidentally kills Bill by shooting him in the face at point blank range. She then pushes Lorna down the stairs, leaving Jimmy clinging to George, who in a split second throws Jimmy over the banister into the arms of Lorna below. In that moment Blanche shoots George. Marvin and Elton appear smelling burning and go off to investigate the fire which is now taking hold. Returning, George takes control of Blanche's gun and shoots Marvin and Elton dead as they mount the stairs.

Margaret and Peter, who had followed George on horseback, meet up with Lorna clinging onto Jimmy outside the Weboy house. They then go to help George out of the house, but are halted by Blanche. Blanche shoots and kills George. With Peter's help, Margaret blasts Blanche with the shotgun, killing her outright. The fire is now raging through the house, as Peter urges Margaret to leave George where he lays. Margaret whispers fond memories into George's ear to send him on his way and exits the house as she, Peter, Lorna and Jimmy watch the house burn and collapse to the ground. Bidding a fond farewell to Peter    she then takes Lorna and the sleeping boy and leaves in the car, heading for home as day breaks.  

This 1960's revenge fuelled emotional and at times violent neo-Western lingers in places but is carried through by the heft of the performances of the three principle leads - Costner, Lane and Manville. The Direction is solid enough with sweeping vistas of snow clad mountains, river gorges, the plains and the big sky all adding weight to the storyline of an ageing couple marred by their own recent tragedy venture out of their comfort zone to protect their grandson from the clutches of a tyrannical family. Costner and Lane share an on-screen chemistry that is clearly evident in their performances ranging from affection and grumpy toward each other to both sharing in their mission to rescue the young lad, and Manville shines in the few scenes she does have as the menacing matriarch akin to Ma Baker. 'Let Him Go' offers up a simple premise, but is well told, well acted, well filmed even if it does labour in places.

'Let Him Go' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-