Review: Lean On Pete

After first hearing of this film at last years Telluride Film Festival, this sounded like it had all the ingredients for an indie hit.

That was all was required for me to check this out, and I must say that this was a pretty moving piece of work.

The first two-acts certainly moved along like how it is being marketed and how I expected. The story was hooking me in at a gentle pace, the characters were introduced perfectly and the development was strong.
Then a quite distressing turn of events caught me unaware, and the final act gave me something slightly unexpected. That being said, it was quite a poignant ending that left me thoroughly satisfied with how our characters ended up.

The star of the show is Charlie Plummer. He is an absolute sensation, he is the heart of the film and this is a real breakthrough performance. Director Andrew Haigh and his casting team did a great job with not just bringing in Plummer, but with everyone involved.
Another top performance is Steve Buscemi's. From his very first scene, you can already tell that Buscemi is bringing out his a-game. Their is fantastic chemistry between him and Plummer's character, and while his character is mean at times, you can feel sympathy for him as well. This will definitely be one of the better supporting roles I will see this year.
I also have to give a mention to Chloe Savigny, who made great use of her short time on screen. It was nice seeing Travis Fimmell in something like this. I still don't think he has fully transitioned into film acting after his fantastic achievement in the TV series 'Vikings'. But this performance was certainly a step in the right direction.

Whilst I don't think this will do well in the cinemas due to it not being a major studio release, I think that people that will check this out can find something that they can connect or relate with in the story.
With all of that happening, the beautifully shot American landscape also really adds to the brutality of this story.

This is a very impactful, emotional and heart-breaking story with a dark sensibility that is only hinted in its visuals and that is easy to connect to. As I said before, Plummer is worth the admission alone.
Haigh and the rest of his writing team managed to fully-fledge so many of the characters with top writing and help by the terrific performances.
This film with shock you at times, make you cry, inspire you and even have the occasional chuckle along the way.

Rating: 8/10