Liam Donovan Liam Donovan takes a look at Andrew Haigh’s coming of age drama.
Lean on Pete, the latest from Weekend and 45 Years director Andrew Haigh, proceeds at a trot rather than a gallop. And that’s exactly why it works. Although the main subject, a quiet and reserved teenager named Charley (Charlie Plummer), both begins and ends his journey by running, this is not a film that races across the frontier landscapes of Northwestern America it depicts. The magical and eerie plains that swallow up our protagonist as he moves through the night, and the viewer feels the weariness of this long, arduous voyage. Haigh has shown us a homeless person, whether he’s at ‘home’ or not, trying to find somewhere he belongs.
The starting point for what begins as a fairly traditional coming-of-age tale, which eventually becomes something wildly different, is a ramshackle dwelling in Portland, Oregon. Charley dreams of being a professional athlete, but these dreams – along with his sense of purpose – have dwindled thanks to his nomadic lifestyle. The high-schooler finds himself perennially on the move from town to city, city to town. This latest relocation is just another attempt by deadbeat dad Ray (Travis Fimmel) to give the pair some structure, and although clearly trying his best, it’s apparent very quickly that he just can’t look after his son anymore. Charley’s mother walked out on them both a long time ago, and the one maternal presence who might have been able to help, Ray’s sister and Charley’s aunt Margy (Alison Elliott), has been excommunicated from the Thompson family’s lives.
The starting point for what begins as a fairly traditional coming-of-age tale, which eventually becomes something wildly different, is a ramshackle dwelling in Portland, Oregon. Charley dreams of being a professional athlete, but these dreams – along with his sense of purpose – have dwindled thanks to his nomadic lifestyle. The high-schooler finds himself perennially on the move from town to city, city to town. This latest relocation is just another attempt by deadbeat dad Ray (Travis Fimmel) to give the pair some structure, and although clearly trying his best, it’s apparent very quickly that he just can’t look after his son anymore. Charley’s mother walked out on them both a long time ago, and the one maternal presence who might have been able to help, Ray’s sister and Charley’s aunt Margy (Alison Elliott), has been excommunicated from the Thompson family’s lives.
So where does this leave Charley? Soon enough, he discovers a race track near his house and offers his services to Del (Steve Buscemi), a cantankerous representative of a bygone age, barely making ends meet by racing his worn-out horses. If you were still wondering where the film’s peculiar title originates from, ponder no more. ‘Lean on Pete’ – or just Pete for short – is a horse Charley finds affinity with. He really doesn’t have much to care about in his life, especially after turbulent events flip his world upside down, so it’s hardly surprising that ‘boy’ gets emotionally attached to ‘horse’.
At this point, you’ve probably formed a mental picture of where this potentially sweet and sentimental drama is leading, but for all the conventional elements you might succeed in identifying, Lean on Pete constantly defies expectations. Haigh’s script blazes a path of its own. It’s for this very reason that the measured pace and subtle exploration of Charley’s tumultuous existence is so effective, for when those shocking jolts of trauma and brutal reality hit the main character out of nowhere, the viewer will probably have as much trouble breathing as he does.
Despite avoiding the quaint and straightforwardly uplifting conclusions it could have resorted to, Lean on Pete is not the achingly depressing and unwieldy experience you might fear. Charley is characterised by a certain helplessness, especially when his new family of parental influences, in the form of Del and seasoned jockey Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny), also manage to let him down, but Haigh’s approach to the character is caring and sympathetic; even when his destination appears to be out of sight, there is faith he will eventually reach the new beginning he so desperately needs.
It’s not difficult to point our own sympathies towards Charley, who is so vulnerably and convincingly portrayed by sort-of-namesake Charlie Plummer. If you felt sorry for him in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, where he played the role of hostage and mutilation victim J. Paul Getty III, you will find him even more devastating to watch here. The actor teeters on the very precipice of a breakdown in what feels like every scene. For most of the film’s duration, he staves off the wave of overwhelming emotion that should engulf him, and we share in his struggle as he does so.
Plummer is ably supported by a fine supporting cast who, without stealing away any limelight from the star, help to formulate the unique tapestry of Charley’s life. On the strength of his performance as Del, ‘old-man’ Buscemi is a new direction I could really get behind, his rough and pragmatic opinion of the world a never-stifling, but always entertaining, antidote to the protagonist’s initial optimism. Unfortunately, you fear he may start to see existence as Del does, though there is a youthful exuberance to Charley that manages to remain intact. Sevigny represents an important middle-ground between the two, compassionate like the main character, but worn down like the horses to Del’s stubborn ways. What is perfectly clear, above all else, is that nobody is quite content.
As for Haigh, his direction is consistently patient and precise. Working alongside cinematographer Magnus Joenck, he squeezes all the glory he can out of the gorgeous vistas filmed, these Oregon topographies seemingly ripped from a John Ford western and resurrected in this indie-drama. As Charley reveals more of his past to Pete, the two becoming kindred spirits, we float in and out of his consciousness, and the dreamlike quality of this novelistic structure is a sensation the director so wonderfully captures.
There may be some narrative diversions that interrupt the serene and hypnotic flow pulsating through Lean on Pete, but this remains the kind of filmmaking which transports both body and soul. The punches to the gut are not as firm as those landed in 45 Years, but for a first foray into a new cultural space, across the pond from his usual cinematic canvas, this represents another success for Andrew Haigh.
Liam reviews film on his website liamlovesmovies.com.
Lean on Pete is out now in UK cinemas. Watch the trailer below:
