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.

LBJ

Everyone is the hero of his own story. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Lyndon Johnson comes out looking good--metaphorically speaking--in a movie titled LBJ. Was the workhorse Texas politician exactly as he is portrayed in this biopic? It's hard to say. The scenes depicted seem to jibe with the historical record, so far as it's known. (Anyone with even the slightest interest in and/or knowledge of the period represented by the movie has encountered these scenes in a different context.) The titular character is aided immensely by Woody Harrelson's spot-on portrayal. Perhaps the strongest takeaway from this flick is the sense that, when an awful and chaotic moment came for the nation, the USA was lucky that a thoroughly accomplished political animal like Johnson was in place to pull things together and, as he says to Congress in the story's climax, keep things moving forward. Overall, the film is boilerplate presidential biography, but that one big takeaway maybe makes it all worthwhile.