A heartfelt, handsomely made but unconvincing tonal mash-up, Thomas Bezucha's Let Him Go begins as a family drama embodying the no-nonsense smarts of its early-'60s heartland setting before veering into wild Gothic menace and ill-advised vigilantism.
Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, perfectly cast as the parents of a son whose death leaves a vulnerable wife and infant behind, make the picture's first half completely involving, encouraging our confidence that the quandary being sketched out will have a sensible if difficult resolution.
That's not the case, and an increasingly rare opportunity to see A-listers tell a grown-up, unsensationalized story fades as quickly as the red stripe on the horizon at dawn.
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