I SENT THE SCRIPT TO KEVIN COSTNER... HE KNOWS A GOOD SCREENPLAY WHEN HE READS ONE
AS THRILLER LET HIM GO HITS UK CINEMAS, DANIELLE DE WOLFE SPEAKS TO DIANE LANE ABOUT ITS TIMELY THEME AND THE STARSTUDDED CAST
GRIPPING new thriller, Let Him Go, is a tale of griefstricken parents setting out to rescue their only grandson. Written and directed by Thomas Bezucha (Monte Carlo/The Family Stone), the adaptation of Larry Watson’s bestselling novel sees Diane Lane, best known for her roles in Unfaithful and Justice League, star alongside Academy Award winner and The Bodyguard actor, Kevin Costner, 65.
A plotline that combines classic Western elements with an altogether darker undercurrent, the film, set in the depths of Montana, sees Costner take on the role of retired sheriff George Blackledge, with Lane stepping into the shoes of his wife, Margaret.
The couple live a quiet life on their ranch, but when their son gets killed in an accident and their daughter-inlaw remarries, they are forced into action when she takes their grandson to live with her dangerous in-laws, living off the grid in the Dakotas.
“It’s kind of a road trip movie with a long-term relationship that’s going through something very intense,” says Diane, 55.
“As Kevin Costner said, ‘it’s an honest movie’ – versus a fairy tale. In some ways it’s more European than American. They want to heal their hearts from the loss of their son. And, at the same time, they’re given this golden opportunity to have a quest to save their grandson – which is the ultimate homage to their deceased son.
“So, you’re dealing with a very poignant internal experience, but the external experience that comes at them is more than they could ever prepare for in a way.”
A journey of hope, the bereaved couple set out to ensure the safety of their grandson, after their widowed daughter-in-law remarries into a family with a murky reputation.
“Where the plot takes them eventually is almost a different movie, which I found very intriguing,” says Diane.
“My character decides that she’s going to intervene on behalf of her grandson because she witnesses him experiencing violence at the hands of the new family that he’s living with.
“Watching them go through their ways of healing from grief, and this road trip that they’re on, and where it leads – I just thought it was a page turner.
“I knew it was a great script, so I had it sent to Kevin. [I] asked him to read it and, he’s no dummy, he knows a great screenplay when he reads it.
“So when he said yes, I knew we were going to be in a good place.”
At first glance, this film centres around the simple concept of family looking out for family.
However, it quickly becomes clear that love and protection are entirely subjective.
“You’ve got three different mothers in this story and you see what makes a mother a good mother. And what does that mean? How is that interpreted?” remarks Diane.
After the couple discover the whereabouts of their grandson and are invited into the home of his new family, tensions rapidly rise as Margaret comes face to face with her new counterpart, Blanche Weboy, the fearsome matriach.
Played by British actress Lesley Manville (The Crown, Maleficent), Blanche is a fiercely protective grandmother who exhibits her own unique form of tough love. She is anything but welcoming to her new visitors.
“Lesley Manville is so riveting in this movie,” smiles Diane.
“When you meet her character, and when George and Margaret walk into her home and meet her boys and her family, she lists her wounds.
“She announces that she is a survivor of this, and this, and this, and that’s how she identifies herself. If that’s not somebody telling you what you’re in for I don’t know what is,” she chuckles.
Costner has described Manville as like “Bette Davis embodied”.
He said: “She is a world class actress and completely killed it in a very difficult, very difficult scene to pull off.”
Mum star Lesley said of the role: “Nothing gets me out of bed more excitedly in the morning than a character that’s a million miles from me and not like the character that I have just played before or I’m going to play after.”
The film’s title, Let Him Go, becomes applicable to multiple characters as the storyline progresses.
“I loved the title Let Him Go because it’s an instruction,” says Diane.
“You sort of say, ‘is that God talking? Who’s supposed to let somebody go?’ It was almost like the end of a romance or something, you don’t know what to expect.
“Everyone in there could be told ‘let him go’ at one point, and yet no character says it, which I think is important.”
It was Bezucha’s past work on The Family Stone that first convinced the actress that this was a role for her.
“He has a real gift for all the different points of view that are happening within a scene, a story, even the genius of the title of our film and of the book that covers so many different perspectives.
“That’s what gave me confidence that he was the right person for the job.”
Lesley Manville is so riveting in this movie... When you meet her character ... she lists her wounds. She announces she is a survivor of this, and this, and this, and that’s how she identifies herself. If that’s not somebody telling you what you’re in for, I don’t know what is...
Diane Lane on her co-star in Let Him Go, Lesley Manville