Lean on Pete

Parental Rating: R

Contains: Language    Violence    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens April 20, 2018

Runs 121 minutes

Charley (Charlie Plummer) has just moved to another new town in Oregon with his itinerant and under-employed father Ray (Travis Fimmel). He spends a lot of time alone and runs for exercise. He hopes to be able to play football at his new school in the fall. On one of his runs, he discovers a horse race track. There he meets Del (Steve Buscemi) a lower rung trainer with a few horses that are often run into the ground. Del offers to pay Charley for his help and soon Charley is working steadily, helping clean stables and walk horses. That is where he meets and bonds with Pete. Charley spends more and more time with Pete because his Dad has found a new girlfirend. Only this girlfriend is trouble. When it appears that Pete has run his last race and Del plans to sell him to someone in Mexico, Charley is heartsick. Then, a tragedy at home causes Charley to take Pete and head out on an adventure to find his Aunt Margy (Alison Elliott). Across grand vistas and miles and miles of barren land, Charley and Pete bond on this epic journey. Only, by the end, Charley will have to learn that he cannot always "lean on Pete", he will have to stand on his own.

This movie is so good but it is a heartbreaker. It really hits you in the gut several times. Charlie Plummer as Charley is a marvel in this role. He is young and naive, but he is also beginning to see how the world really works. You can see this in his eyes and his shoulders. As he walks and talks to Pete, you just want to cry for him. All he wants is a stable life, a chance to go to school and maybe play football. I wanted to adopt him. Anyway, the cast is really great. Steve Buscemi is both slimy and caring. He gives Charley a job and doesn't take advantage of him. But, he also tells it like it is. The underbelly of low stakes horse-racing is not pretty and horses are not pets in this film. Charley's home life is unstable but he loves his Dad. Travis Fimmel does a nice job of walking the line between lovable loser and absentee parent. All the way around, Charley has been let down in life and Pete becomes a symbol for something steady and sure that he can count on until he is forced to rely on himself. Beautifully filmed, this is such a good movie. But, it is not s typical boy and his horse movie, nor is it for kids. It is tough but there is a light at the end of the journey for Charley.  Go see it.

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