Kevin Costner’s success with Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone series has relaunched his career and introduced him to a whole new audience. He may have even earned more fans thanks to his television work than any of the films he appeared in during the first half of his career. Is Costner a movie star or a Western guy?
As it turns out, he’s both. Costner got the chance to satisfy both of his audiences with the underrated 2020 Western thriller Let Him Go. While Let Him Go starts off as a typical Western “dad movie,” its surprising twist towards ultra-violence suggested that Costner was willing to take classical material and adapt it for the times.
‘Let Him Go’ Makes Family Tragedy Feel Real
Based on the acclaimed 2013 novel of the same name by author Larry Watson, Let Him Go takes place in rural Montana during the 1960s. While there aren’t any overt references to ongoing political events, Let Him Go implies that the small community that the film centers on is decidedly off-the-grid. Living beyond the reach of civil society means that this area operates with frontier justice, and that suits the retired sheriff George Blackledge (Costner) just fine. He is content to look after his wife Margaret (Diane Lane) and care for their ranch, as he does not expect that he will be called back into action anytime soon.
George is also recovering from the death of his son in a horsing accident. It’s the type of unfortunate, unforeseeable accident that all fathers fear because there was nothing that George could have done to anticipate it. In the early moments of the film, director Thomas Bezucha does a great job at showing how significantly the tragedy lies over George and Margarets’ heads. While some men would have been embittered by the ordeal, George doesn’t have anyone that he can direct his anger towards. He can’t fault his son or the young widow, Lorana (Kayli Carter), that he left behind. He now just feels generally dispirited and simply goes through his daily routines with little joy. It’s a remarkable performance on Costner’s part, as he implies that George is dealing with depression without ever explicitly stating it.
Any memories of George’s son immediately remind him of what he’s lost, and as a result, he’s stayed far away from Lorna. Although George has an affinity for his son’s younger bride, he’s effectively distanced himself from her after she remarried the rancher Donnie Weboy (Will Britain). Perhaps claiming that Lorna and Donnies’, son, Jimmy (Otto and Bram Hornung) isn’t really his “kin” makes it easier for George to move past the tragedy of his son’s death. However, he’s forcefully thrust back into family politics when Margaret observes Donnie physically abusing both Lorna and Jimmy.
‘Let Him Go’ Has a Radical Twist
What’s beautiful about the first part of Let Him Go is the graceful intimacy of these family encounters. If details about George’s profession had never been revealed, Let Him Go wouldn’t even feel like a “genre” movie at all. However, the film takes a dramatic turn in its second half once George and Margaret begin searching for Jimmy. The Weboy family have now claimed Donnie as one of their own, and isn’t willing to give him up simply to appease the Blackledges.
Let Him Go opts for a shocking twist when George and Margaret encounter Jimmy’s other grandmother, Blanche (Lesley Manville). Blanche is very clearly the de facto “leader” of her family, and her parenting style couldn’t be more different than George’s. Blanche forces her other sons, Marvin (Adam Stafford) and Elton (Connor Mackay), to follow her commands like military orders. The first interaction she shares with George reveals how very different their values are. George doesn’t necessarily have pride in his family name, as he only wants his kin to be happy. However, Blanche is willing to fight, and even break the law in order to ensure that Jimmy remains a Weboy for the rest of his life. The implication is enough to terrify both George and Margaret. If they do nothing, Blanche will turn Jimmy into just another one of her drones.
‘Let Him Go’ Turns Into a Grindhouse Thriller
The friction between the two families allows the film to perfectly segue into something much deeper and more violent. The stakes become personal for George and Margaret, who both realize that they are blind to a cult of violent fanaticism that has been growing on the outskirts of society. Most Western projects deal with some sort of violent fringe groups. The 1960s context makes it somewhat difficult to determine what the Weboys’ values are, but Blanche’s emphatic obsessions suggest that they belong to some sort of radical fundamentalist faction.
Although Costner is great at playing an older, grizzled former sheriff, it’s Lane’s performance that is the film’s standout. Margaret is the active character in the film, as she is the one who has always been focused on raising Jimmy and protecting Lorna in the aftermath of her son’s death. It takes an act of disturbing violence to get George to understand the importance of family loyalty. However, this has been what Margaret has been telling him the entire time.
Let Him Go is unafraid to get genuinely gruesome: fingers are chopped off, bullets are fired in close quarters, and a homestead goes up in flames. While this transition from the more grounded tone of the first half could have been very jarring, the action is always centered around who gets to take possession of Jimmy. Jimmy has to deal with essentially being an object that the two families bicker over. The Blanches want to impress their values on him, but the Blackledges simply want to give him the freedom to make his own decisions. This conflict allows Let Him Go to feel like a fresh, albeit disturbing modern Western classic.
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