By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Andrew Haigh
Starring: Amy Seimetz | Charlie Plummer | Chloe Sevigny | Steve Buscemi | Travis Fimmel
Country: united_kingdom
Year: 2018
Running time: 121
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5340300/reference
Chris says: “Expanding his palette beyond the more contained worlds of 45 YEARS and WEEKEND, English director Andrew Haigh adapts a Willy Vlautin novel for his first American feature. The protagonist, transient 16-year-old Charlie (Charlie Plummer) unexpectedly finds solace when he stumbles into assisting a curmudgeonly horse racer, Del (Steve Buscemi, ideally cast) and in particular, caring for the young horse whose name is the film’s title.
Best to go into this one knowing little else, as the unsentimental journey Charlie takes is surprising, unsettling and increasingly bleak. At times difficult to watch and occasionally unshapen, there are three constants that sustain the film’s momentum: Haigh’s perceptive direction, Magnus Joenck’s gorgeous cinematography (esp. in the second half) and Plummer’s heartbreakingly naturalistic performance. It’s an effective (if tonally dissimilar) analogue to Andrea Arnold’s AMERICAN HONEY and it reiterates Haigh’s status as a filmmaker to watch. 4 cats”
Thom says: “While I wasn’t a fan of Haigh’s first film, rent-boy drama GREEK PETE (2009), his WEEKEND (2011) was an award-winning success, & 45 YEARS was rightfully critically praised. His work on LOOKING was admirable, so I excitedly picked this up for free on PrimeVideo, especially considering my favorite actress Sevigny had a smart cameo. Plummer (no relation to Christopher) plays 16-year-old Charley, a troubled boy with a laconic, but magnetic appeal. His dad is an alcoholic loser who ends up in hospital after being thrown through a window by a cuckolded husband, hanging on to his life. Charley’s mother deserted them many years previously but he has a severe hankering to reconnect with her. He latches on to rapscallion quarter-horse trainer Del (Buscemi not a this peak), who dopes his horses, and runs around a lower class circuit trying to make a dishonest buck. He also uses down-on-her-luck jockey Bonnie, who’s not above using a buzzer to enhance a mount’s performance (a spellbinding Sevigny). So with his dad laid-up he starts working for Del for $25/day. He falls in love with Lean On Pete, Del’s gelding that is losing his ability to compete. Charley learns that Del is going to sell Lean On Pete to a Mexican concern that are definitely not interested in the horse’s welfare. With a dark-of-night theft Charley absconds with the horse on a cross-country trek to find his mother. The uplifting ending is totally out-of-place with the downcast, depressing, & disheartening body of the script and seemed tacked on. While Charley’s road-trip is like levels of Dante’s Inferno, he remains likable if not a little dull with no pragmatism. The horse-racing observations had a lot of verisimilitude. 4 cats”
Beth C. says: “This film tried, but I felt it was not the best. The screenplay (adapted from the novel by Willy Vlautin) was unconvincing. I will admit, I’m a former equestrian, and a few issues about animal husbandry came up. I won’t say more, so I’ll just say I found it unconvincing. Also, the acting, even Buscemi’s, failed to meet expectations. It’s true. 2.5 cats“”