Lean on Pete

There seems to be a rare occasion in dramas when a young protagonists growth is displayed on their treatment of an animal buddy. Admittedly it's not a topic I usually look out for since some of them run the same stale formula and can feel recycled without some effort put into it. However, there are some good shining examples in that area to look upon include Old Yeller and My Dog Spot. It's very rare to the point where it became a surprise when a new entry appeared on my radar from the studio A24, Lean on Pete. The marketing campaign seemed limited but what it displayed appeared compelling enough to check it out with some possible emotional investment. The critical reception for this was mainly positive but there hasn't been much word of mouth buzz in social media. I entered the auditorium to determined whether the lack of attention towards this drama film was worth leaving it to itself or if it's worth more than what people give it credit for and left it satisfied with what I would like to dub "realistic depression simulator 2018".

Note: I didn't realize this was based on a novel of the same name by Willy Vlautin. I haven't read it and won't be able to comment on the faithfulness to that source material. This review will only cover the movie as its own thing.

Plot: The story follows a teenager who runs away on a journey with an aging race horse to find a new home after a chain of bad events in his life. On paper, this sounds simple and nothing very extraordinary but the execution here mostly delivers due to the performances of the cast and the writing. It focuses on how much our protagonists polite patience can be pushed from the depressing turns he encounters before it breaks. Honestly if you spot something that could potentially go wrong whether or not the protagonist was involved, then it's very likely that it will sooner or later (basically a ticking time bomb of agony waiting to go off and impact this boy). The growth of our lead is pretty endearing to watch as his panicked decisions he makes to survive provide plenty of sympathy for this youth trying to find a home and some sense of stability in his fractured life. However, for as depressing as the plot can get, it allows the audiences some brief moments of levity before throwing them back into the realistic dilemma at hand.

However, as solid as the execution of the material is, the runtime for this coming of age story is too long for its own good. There's about 10-20 minutes it could have taken out with at least one scene that feels more like filler. The pacing of this journey can be hindered in the second act and makes the experience exhausting to stay awake in order to see the resolution.

Characters: The people to focus on are Charley (Charlie Plummer), Ray (Travis Fimmel), and Del (Steve Buscemi). Charley is a polite teen whose capacity for handling hardships is pushed to its limits as he runs away with a failed racehorse to find a new home. Charlie gives a great performance that makes this movie worth watching alone as he must drive a lot of it on his own from reacting to distressing situations and learning lessons the hard way. It's kind of funny watching him in terms of his appearance since he looks like another pretty white male actor cloned from the factory that made Ansel Elgort, Dacre Montgomery, Asa Butterfield, Nick Robinson, and Tye Sheridan (whose usually inserted into these coming of age movies).

Ray is Charley's single irresponsible struggling father who taught his son to be polite. Travis gives a good portrayal as that sleazy parental figure whose good intentions can't overcome his misdeeds. Del is race horse owner who gives Charley a job and has some unfavorable methods in his jobs that's disheartening to witness. Steve delivers pretty well here in revealing his nature to the point of disliking him. An honorable mention goes to Silver (Steve Zahn) for how his actions affect our tortured youth and the actors dedicated talent in his limited screen time for this supporting role.

Overall Consensus: Lean on Pete mostly delivers on a captivating journey through the casts great acting chops, simple but effective writing, realistic depressing tone, and a sympathetic protagonist worth rooting for. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🎟 Runtime: 2 hours 1 minutes R

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You enjoy realistic harsh drama films about a youth trying to survive an unforgiving world. You don't mind 2 hour movies.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You hate depressing coming of age stories. You hate 2 hour movies.

Coming up next: May is off to a good start by looking back at some of the limited released independent movies with Lean on Pete! Before we can jump into the full summer movies arriving this weekend, there's one more indie flick that's been on my radar for a while and it might be my only chance to catch it before it leaves the theaters. Tune in next time as Screening Spectacles will watch and review (without having seen any marketing campaign for it) the thriller, You Were Never Really Here!!!