Let Him Go (2020) **1/2

 

In the crisp air and open vistas of Montana, Margaret and George Blackledge (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner) lose a son to a riding accident, then watch their daughter-in-law re-marry, to a man of questionable character. When their new son-in-law packs up his family and leaves town without warning, taking their beloved, little grandson with him, the Blackledges set out on an Odyssey to find their grandson and rescue him if necessary. The trip takes them across Wyoming and into North Dakota, where they have to face off against an insular, dangerous family of ranchers, led by the steely-eyed Blanche Weboy (Lesley Manville).

“Let Him Go” is hard to get a handle on at first, because it fakes you out. It starts out looking like a movie about rugged men in a rugged landscape, but the film is best understood as a story about two strong, complex, flawed women. Margaret's love for her grandson, driven as it is by grief, leads her to marginalize her daughter-in-law. This drives the girl into an inappropriate marriage, which sets the whole tragedy in motion. On the other side of the coin, Blanche has used her iron will to hold her family together and eke out a living in an unforgiving North Dakota landscape. In the process, she has browbeat everyone so much that she lives surrounded by men who appear unable to make any decisions without her. She enforces a harsher life on her family than is necessary, and her prickly nature makes an enemy of anyone she can't dominate.

I found the plot to be irritating. The characters make a bunch of stupid decisions. The movie is worth watching, though, for the stunning, western imagery, not to mention Diane Lane and Kevin Costner. I don't know which of them is more beautiful, but I'm leaning towards Diane Lane, who sports the best head of gray hair since Emmylou Harris. Lesley Manville is also excellent as Blanche. The rest of the cast may as well be extras, with the exception of Booboo Stewart, a striking, young actor who plays an Indian man who befriends the Blackledges.

“Let Him Go” is the kind of movie that usually garners a bunch of Oscar nominations. It's mostly slow-paced. It gives the audience a taste of violence and revenge, while officially frowning on such things. Hollywood usually eats this stuff up! Maybe the movie is too white for a newly-woke Academy, or maybe Oscar voters just felt, as I did, that the uneven story-telling was not completely redeemed by the excellent cast and cinematography.

2.5 stars out of 5