Lean on Pete (2018)

'LEAN ON PETE': Four Stars (Out of Five)The critically acclaimed drama about a teenage boy who befriends an old race horse, named Lean on Pete, and tries to save him from being put-down. The film stars Charlie Plummer, Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny and Travis Fimmel. It was written and directed by Andrew Haigh, and it's based on the book (of the same name) by Willy Vlautin. The film has received nearly unanimous positive reviews from critics, and despite some of it's themes, I enjoyed it quite a bit as well. Charley Thompson (Plummer) is a fifteen-year-old boy, who moves to Portland with his single father, Ray (Fimmel), and gets a summer job there. He starts working for an old horse trainer, named Del (Buscemi), and befriends an old horse he works with, named Lean on Pete. Lean on Pete has outlived his profitability, and he's about to be put down. Charley decides he'll do anything he can to save his new friend. The film is beautifully shot and acted; Charlie Plummer is fantastic in the lead, and who doesn't love Steve Buscemi. It's also a touching troubled youth/animal lovers tale. There's of course the horse racing/animal abuse aspect of the story, that I don't like (being a vegan). It's true to life though, and in the end it's about saving animals from this cruel world, and appreciating them as the beautiful beings that they are. So I liked the movie overall.

I thought that the acting was really excellent. But I thought that the movie was horribly depressing and very long and drawn out. And then having the horse get killed really bothered me I guess that I was expecting a different kind of movie. I would never watch this again or recommend this to anyone.

Slow. Depressing. I don't even know where the story line was going. Not for anyone who is sensitive to animals dying or being harmed. I'm giving it three stars instead of one just because, Steve Buscemi.

Lean On Pete (2018) is a phenomenal adventure/drama directed by Andrew Haigh. This film is infinitely more than it looks at first glance. Each character is well written and has purpose, feeling as if they existed in this universe before and after entering the screen. Very well paced, and following its own rules, I was captivated watching this fantastic story unfold within this rich and beautiful world in which they created.