Lean on Pete

If anyone sees an advertisement for Lean On Pete and thinks they're going to see some boy and a horse story like TV's Fury or National Velvet put that out of your mind. This is a touching story about a kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest with a single father who gets a summer job working for a horse trainer and it's filled with pathos and tragedy.

Charlie Plummer gives a beautiful performance as the sensitive 15 year old who gets a job with Steve Buscemi a horse trainer who has seen better days. Buscemi is working the quarter horse county fair circuit and he has a couple of horses who also have seen better days.

Buscemi makes it clear from the gitgo that this is a business for him and jockey Chloe Sevigny tries to give him good advice that this is a business and not to get attached to the horses and think of them as pets. But Buscemi's horse named Lean On Pete gets attached to young Plummer and vice versa. He steals the horse to prevent him from a final trip to the glue factory. It's quite the odyssey the boy and horse have.

The vistas of the Pacific Northwest are beautifully captured and the casting is exquisitely perfect in the role. But in a carefully controlled and beautiful performance Charlie Plummer conveys so much emotion. All he wants is a life of some stability and something or someone to love. Simple things a lot of us take for granted and some of us are cursed never to have.

Lean On Pete is a real sleeper of a movie and should have gotten more recognition than it did. I defy anyone to watch this and have a dry eye when finished. Simple and hauntingly beautiful.

This drama from Andrew Haigh about an adolescent boy caring for a quarter horse may be paced slowly, but its unique sense of melancholy slowly creeps up on the viewer. The film uses a mix of thoughtful but down-to-earth dialogue and stunning shots of the American West to immerse the viewer in its world. These two elements manage to coexist quite well in the film. I was impressed by the quality of the acting in the film, as Haigh wisely directs his cast to choose a deep-seated and authentic sense of realism over sentimental value in their performances. The film moves at a leisurely but commendable and never tedious pace. Its tone is often quite dark at times and its themes can be quite heavy, but patient viewers who stay with the film will be rewarded. It is important to understand that thankfully, such tone and themes never feel sentimental or sappy, which is all to the film's genuine benefit. The film's depiction of poorer and rural Americans in the West provides for thoughtful and compassionate social commentary in a manner similar to something like J.D. Vance's stunning memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." Haigh should be praised for ensuring that such depiction is never portrayed in a trivialized manner.

My main criticism of the film--and the key element that keeps it from greatness--is that the film often plays it too safe in its narrative and stylistic choices. While the movie never feels predictable and often feels gritty, a mild philosophical change in how the film could have been constructed could have made some scenes feel somewhat less derivative. That said, this is a well-made and well-acted drama. Recommended to those interested. 7/10

Athough the title of the movie gives us something soft and nice, be ready to deal with the cruelty of the real life. It is really a nice story, but for someone more than heavy for his/her expectations. Director Andrew Haigh showed us mainly how looks life of American underclass, what isn't what we can see in some profitable and big budget movies. The young actor, Charlie Plummer, gives us the picture of a good acting and what to say more than that he is the best of all other members in that cast. A natural gift to be a good actor.

"Lean On Pete" (2017 release from the UK; 121 min.) brings the story of Charley. As the movie opens, 16 yr. old Charley, who lives with his dad in Portland, Oregon, is doing his morning jog, passing Portland Downs. Although Charley doesn't have any prior experience, he is drawn to the wold of horses. By happenstance, Charley gets an opportunity to assist Del, a veteran in the horse racing business. One of the horses Del has is called Lean On Pete. Then one evening, Charley's dad is wounded critically in a fight (we're not sure what the fight is actually about), At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out,

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from British writer-director Andrew Haigh, whose previous film was the equally excellent "45 Years". Here, he brings the novel of the same name by Willy Vlautin to the big screen. I have not read the book, so I cannot comment to what extent (if any) the movie diverges plot-wise from the original book. As for the movie itself, I need to be quite careful as this is a plot-heavy movie. All I will say is that if you think the movie is mostly about the bond that grows between Charley and the horse, you are quite wrong. Rapidly up-and-coming Charlie Plummer (he played the kidnapped Getty in the recent "All The Money In the World") carries the movie on his young shoulders (he is in virtually every frame of the movie). Steve Buscemi is solid as Del, and Chloe Sevigny has a small role as Del's unsentimental jockey Bonnie.("they're not pets, Charley, they're just race horses"). The movie's wide open photography is eye-candy from start to finish. But in the end, this is all about Charley's story, and simple at that level, "Lean On Pete" is bound to break your heart, as you ache for Charley in his quest for a better future.

"Lean On Pete" premiered at last Fall's Venice Film Festival to immediate critical acclaim (with Plummer winning "Best Young Actor"), and it recently opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was not attended well (5 people, including myself), although I'm guessing the 75 degree weather had something to do with that. Or it may be that hopefully this movie will find a wider audience on other platforms beyond the movie theater. Regardless, if you are in the mood for an excellent character study of a young man in search of a better life, I'd readily recommend you seek this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

If you think Andrew Haigh's Lean on Pete, adapted from the novel by writer-musician Willy Vlautin, is a boiler plate boy and his horse idyll, then go see National Velvet. Here is the story of an underclass teen, 15 year old Charley (Charlie Plummer), who happens on a summer job tending stables and horses that gives him purpose and edges him into adulthood with love and tragedy.

Set in the Pacific Northwest's Portland, the unsentimental dramatic adventure has encounters with his single father, Ray, and girlfriends like a married secretary who brings Ray enormous trouble. Charley experiences loving that can be violent and survival that is uncertain.

Better is his experience with horses and a sleazy owner, Del (Steve Buscemi), who shows him how to tend the horses and eat in a civilized fashion, as well as the underbelly of horse racing in the boonies. Del, a complex character of the rough and soft, leads Charley to his first big love, aging quarter horse Lean on Pete, on whom Charlie will lean for emotional support as long as fate allows. Absconding with Pete to keep him from the slaughterhouse leads Charley to parlous times and tragedy but toward salvation.

The first half is chockfull of small experiences with the underclass, each member of whom is struggling to survive but not without a few raucous interludes. Basically, however, life in trailers and moveable horse races frequently leads to grim futures.

As with any teen, breaking with parents and guardians is crucial to maturation, and Charley is no different. When he and Pete take off to find long lost Aunt Margy (Alison Elliot), the broad vista of the West, dramatically photographed by Magnus Jonck, beckons the wanderers and portends dramatic challenges, not the least of which are the desert and unscrupulous adults.

Yet, listening to Charley confide about his life to Pete as they amble to the future is one of the film's understated delights. Like the film itself, we can exult in Charley's independence while fearing for his physical and mental safety.

As a youthful representative of a vulnerable class, Charley brings hope from his travels. Like a Steinbeck wanderer, he trudges to a problematic future as he builds on his brief but illuminating early-life experiences.

Just listen to the Bonnie Prince Billy cover of R. Kelly's "The World's Greatest" over the credits to catch his melancholy present and future, no longer leaning on Pete for survival.