Let Him Go

This is the sort of movie that a young person cannot watch, or at least cannot watch and really hope to understand. You need the perspective of passing years and advanced life stations in your personal background to really see the stakes in this story. The movie's strong side is its presentation, particularly in its early scenes; the film tells its story with clarity and economy, utilizing good visual and aural details and avoiding  clutter to create a sense of time, place, and sensibility. The leads represent another strength; Diane Lane is both the film's emotional core--showing both determination and vulnerability in equal and equally important measures--and driving force (and she remains quite attractive, even playing someone's grandmother), while Kevin Costner brings his longstanding status as a symbol of fundamental decency to a role that, ultimately, might make the viewer wonder a bit about the real worth of such a character trait. The weakness of this film is almost existential in nature, specifically: what exactly about this story is supposed to make it appealing (or at least appealing enough that moviegoers will want to watch it)? There is an individual--or at least a familial--tragedy in the through lines of this tale...but how much impact can it have on the larger picture of life? The inherent warning about the dangers of this society's redneck subculture remains pertinent--a little too pertinent, in fact--but that's not exactly the sort of thing that gets audiences engrossed, other than with a certain contempt or revulsion. Honestly, if not for the star power of the leads, I doubt very many viewers would wish to bother with what is, ultimately, a dreary and somewhat depressing story. It's not bad, but it's probably a bit too heavy for most to take. Give it a shot if you're really into deep drama, but just know going in that you're not likely to walk away feeling good about things.