'Let Him Go' delivers satisfying Costner-Lane star turns

Let Him Go is a disarmingly simple film with a pretty irresistible presence. A stalwart, salt of the earth aging couple of ranchers (played to perfection by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) lose their son, and watch with disgust as their daughter-in-law remarries into what turns out to be a profoundly shady, abusive family (known as the Weboys) and takes their young grandson to them.

Costner and Lane embark on a journey to retrieve the adorable young boy and to bring him back home with then no matter what. It's an old fashioned almost western, tailor made to the star personas of Lane, and especially Costner, who hasn't been this good in years.

The movie is also elevated by the incomparable Lesley Manville, who creates a truly dreadful villain, as the Weboy matriarch, in just a few short scenes.

It's not a particularly deep movie and the characters are very complex. Lane is determined and maternal. Costner stoic and noble. But it doesn't make the movie any less effective as a piece of period pulp.

Costner in particular is a delight here. After a short run as his generation's Gary Cooper, he became a bit of a punchline after getting derailed by a series of big budget vanity projects that failed. It's hard for some people to remember that he was once one of the most likable and successful Hollywood stars. His run from roughly 1987 (with The Untouchables) through 1993's A Perfect World is pretty remarkable. Even the films that don't entirely work (like 1991's blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) they're still pretty entertaining,

Hollywood is very forgiving for leading men of a certain age and Costner has remained very active, especially in recent years. But this is the first time it doesn't feel like a forced bit of stunt casting, at least to me. The filmmakers here understand the Costner persona -- it's earnestness and simplicity -- and lean into it well.

The same goes for Diane Lane, who with the notable exception of Unfaithful, has almost never had roles that matched her talent. She is such an inherently likable and sincere presence on screen that you always want to root for her, and it's easy to do it here.

It all barrels towards an inevitably bloody conclusion and I do wish we had a greater understanding of who exactly the Weboys are and were, since they are clearly nefarious in a sort of vague but all encompassing way. The film is quiet and slow paced until it isn't and then suddenly it seems to end all too abruptly. It's the kind of movie that Clint Eastwood would work wonders with, but alas, writer-director Thomas Bezucha is no auteur.

But it's a good, solid piece of filmmaking -- perfect for a shut in covd viewing if you like classic good vs. evil fairy tales, with old pros doing what they do best.