Lean on Pete (2018)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Lean on Pete is about a young orphaned boy trying to travel across America with a horse he took a liking too, when working with him.This film is written and directed by Andrew Haigh (45 Years). It stars Charlie Plummer (All the Money in the World), Amy Seimetz (Upstream Color) and Travis Fimmel (Warcraft: The Beginning).Haigh has created characters that feel as real as my family and friends, he also directs with a realistic eye, including some mesmerizing shots of the sky. Plummer's performance as the lead Charley is heartbreaking and constantly amazed me with the emotions he could exude with looks and actions. The story and writing are realistic and all around FANTASTIC! This film surprised me with just how brilliant it is. 10/10

'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.

And you thought this was just about a horse. Well, it's about a 16 yr old who goes on a life journey facing many trials & tribulations which do strain credulity and probability. Except for the always positive endings for these type movies it is not close to being a Pollyannish Disney storyline. And to all the one, two, three star reviews yes horses die, dogs die, cats die, birds die and everything else including, astonishingly, people. And, yes, young teens can handle this movie for it's many life lessons.

Charley is only 15 years old but so far has had a pretty hard and unstable life. His mother is gone and he stays with his father who doesn't have much to give Charley in the way of either the basics or emotional support. On his new job working for Del, a horse racing businessman, Charley forms a connection with Lean On Pete aka Pete, an aging quarter horse whose running days are numbered. The story line is a bit predictable in a general way and there seems to be no message conveyed by the film. It did hold my interest for the most part mainly because I found it well acted.