Lean on Pete

Duncan Gray

The ads sell it as a treacly boy-and-his-horse story, which it is, up to a point. It's also the new Andrew Haigh film, and his eye for character is on display even while his sense of drama gets as lost in the American West as his hero. Haigh's odyssey feels smaller than his two-handers, and though it nobly strives to show the US as a place where innocence dies and gets reborn, the pace trots, the contrivances nag.

josé neves

Digital. 3,5. It's not an act of politicization like "The Electric Horseman" or narrative lyricism, like Carroll Ballard's stupidly forgotten "The Black Stallion." It's "only" the most solid entry of recent cinema into a classic narrative, with a profoundly fair look at a character who is accompanied without contemplations and much dedication - despite some spurious focus variations. Extraordinary Charlie Plummer.

Steve Pulaski

Andrew Haigh deserves a lot of credit. A film as tenderly acted and remarkably natural as "Lean on Pete" can't be forced, and Haigh encases an emotionally honest story in a film unafraid to be both beautiful and horrifically ugly. Charlie Plummer is a true find of an actor, and he's surrounded by veterans that elevate the picture itself but never undermine his authentic performance. Solid stuff.

OFF_FRAME

Fantastic! A beautifully crafted and unapologetic character study of a young boy forced into adulthood. Charlie Plummer out acts everyone in this film and brings a stunning warmth and humanity to the plight of homelessness. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars

Carlos Filipe Freitas

Eschewing sentimental allure, Lean On Pete is based on the novel of the same name by Willy Vlautin. It’s a life lesson that stands above most of the coming-of-age dramas.

ig_____or

Andrew Haigh can do no wrong <3 Another intimate, devastatingly beautiful film. Charlie Plummer was a revelation!

Not A Sexy Vampire

A slow, sprawling story that seems to be about 3 films in one. The first is an underdeveloped look at the bond between people and horses, then a mediation on poverty and the desperation of homelessness, before finally, it seems to ultimately be about grief. It's hard to really know, there are too many characters and nowhere plot threads. Kind of disappointing, but Plummer is a marvel (just look at his dirty hands).

Renton47

It tellingly bears the burden of grand American works made by outsiders, which manifests perhaps most positively in Jønck's photography for which Paris, Texas must surely have been an inspiration. It also catches you off guard, the way the movie (like Charlie) does not take time to grieve, burrowing deeper into the shame of being adrift from any support systems. I felt it very much in part due to Plummer.