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Kevin Costner stars as retired sheriff George Blackledge and Diane Lane as his wife Margaret Blackledge in the dramatic thriller written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, based on the novel by Larry Watson.

 

Costner and Lane portray a happily married couple living on their Montana ranch in 1963 with their only adult son James (Ryan Bruce) and wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) and their young son Jimmy.

 

The family’s peaceful lifestyle takes a turn for the worse when tragedy strikes. The family is left devastated after James suffers a fatal injury while riding his horse.

 

After some time, Lorna, now a widow remarries a dashing young man, Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain).

 

Margaret is reluctant to embrace the newlyweds and her suspicions of Donnie’s darker side are confirmed when she inadvertently observes Donnie assault Lorna and her grandson. She does not confront Donnie nor does she tell her husband George, instead she keeps it a secret until she learns that Donnie has left town with Lorna and her grandson without warning or saying goodbye.

 

Believing that Jimmy may be in danger and fearing for his life Margaret is determined to reclaim her grandson who has been taken to North Dakota to start a new life with Donnie’s family, the Weboys.

 

Margaret confides in George, although, unwilling to accompany Margaret and share her perspective of returning Jimmy to their home, George realizes he cannot leave her alone and attempts to give her his full support.

 

Nights and days pass down a long road that is traveled from Montana to North Dakota, a symbolic reminder that time passes and they too are aging.

  

Margaret seems motivated by the death of their son James and motherly instincts to protect her only grandchild Jimmy dictate her emotions as he is the only connection she has to her deceased son. Meanwhile, a stoic George appears to be passive and more accepting of the outcomes trying to convince Margaret to reconsider.

 

Throughout the film there are moments that make it seem reuniting with their grandson may not be worth the effort. The decision to find Jimmy had no clear strategy and is no simple task. When they finally encounter the Weboy clan it becomes extremely clear that the frustrating mission they have embarked on reaches the horizon of high intensity and suspense.

 

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Enter, Lesley Manville (Blanche) the quarrelsome and callous matriarch of the viciously brute Weboy family has absolutely no intentions of allowing Jimmy to leave her house and break up her sons family.

 

George and Margaret are invited to a dinner at the Weboy home where Blanche spends most of the time sharing her family’s suffering throughout the years, creating a more detailed picture of contrast into both family’s experiences. During this scene the drama surges as each character expresses their opposing opinions and almost reaches a point of physical violence.

 

This tease of upcoming action serves as a character revelation for the innocent Blackledges as Blanche makes it an extremely difficult challenge for them to reunite with their grandson the civil way. She is the reason George and Margaret are forced to find the courage and strength to overcome obstacles the docile couple most likely never lived through or ever imagined.

 

The scenes between Costner, Lane and Manville are the most unpleasant and quite unpredictable as Lesley Manville delivers the much-needed tense drama with her sinister portrayal of Blanche, yet subtle, Manville successfully manages to reference a Bette Davis’s Baby Jane Hudson in “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” style performance. A Golden Globe nomination for Supporting Actress would not come as a surprise considering her portrayal is on target and her character initiates and maintains the interest in the film.

 

Both Costner and Lane respectfully, have a variety of great movies that truly showcase their talent, in this film both actors deliver graceful performances but are overshadowed by Lesley Manville’s Blanche, sadly has limited screen time. Manville’s character should have been utilized a little more to fully release the full acting ability of both Costner and Lane. The chemistry between Diane Lane and Kevin Costner seems natural and the docile reservations of the characters works especially during the emotional moments of the film. I did love the intimate interaction shared on screen by both Lane & Costner during some of their more peaceful moments.

 

Overall, the movie is good, enjoyable and fair, however, it does require some patience as it slowly hits the peak of it’s potential. When there is action-packed excitement it is also very dark and uncomfortably scary. Spoiler Alert-there are some sad moments and the ending is unpredictable unjustified sadness. 

 

We will never tell you if a movie is bad or good instead our rating is as follows:

Worth watching!!

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A very special Thank you to Focus Features

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