Lean on Pete

2017
R
2h 1m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

14K

YOUR RATING

Ryan Warren Smith in Lean on Pete (2017)

Fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson (Charlie Plummer) arrives in Portland, Oregon with his single father Ray (Travis Fimmel), both of them eager for a fresh start after a series of hard knocks. While Ray descends into personal turmoil, Charley finds acceptance and camaraderie at a local racetrack where he lands a job caring for an aging Quarter Horse named Lean On Pete. The horse's gruff owner Del Montgomery (Steve Buscemi) and his seasoned jockey Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny) help Charley fill the void of his father's absence - until he discovers that Pete is bound for slaughter, prompting him to take extreme measures to spare his new friend's life. Charley and Pete head out into the great unknown, embarking on an odyssey across the new American frontier in search of a loving aunt Charley hasn't seen in years.

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Coming-of-Age Adventure Drama Sport

A teenager gets a summer job working for a horse trainer and befriends the fading racehorse, Lean on Pete.A teenager gets a summer job working for a horse trainer and befriends the fading racehorse, Lean on Pete.A teenager gets a summer job working for a horse trainer and befriends the fading racehorse, Lean on Pete.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

14K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 11 wins & 18 nominations total

Trivia
Chloë Sevigny revealed that she was originally approached to play Charley's aunt, but her agent fought for her to play Bonnie because the latter character is a larger role with "more [for Sevigny] to sink her teeth into."

Quotes
Charley: Can I ask you a question?
Charley: Why do you let him treat you like that?
Laurie: I don't have anywhere else to go.
Laurie: And... when you don't have anywhere else to go... you're kinda stuck.

Connections
Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Amazing Movies You Missed This Spring (2018)

Soundtracks
Through the Eyes of Love
Performed by Melissa Manchester (as Melisa Manchester)
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment INC & Sony Pictures Entertainment INC
Written by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

User reviews99

Review

Featured review

8/10

A life of some stability

If anyone sees an advertisement for Lean On Pete and thinks they're going to see some boy and a horse story like TV's Fury or National Velvet put that out of your mind. This is a touching story about a kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest with a single father who gets a summer job working for a horse trainer and it's filled with pathos and tragedy.

Charlie Plummer gives a beautiful performance as the sensitive 15 year old who gets a job with Steve Buscemi a horse trainer who has seen better days. Buscemi is working the quarter horse county fair circuit and he has a couple of horses who also have seen better days.

Buscemi makes it clear from the gitgo that this is a business for him and jockey Chloe Sevigny tries to give him good advice that this is a business and not to get attached to the horses and think of them as pets. But Buscemi's horse named Lean On Pete gets attached to young Plummer and vice versa. He steals the horse to prevent him from a final trip to the glue factory. It's quite the odyssey the boy and horse have.

The vistas of the Pacific Northwest are beautifully captured and the casting is exquisitely perfect in the role. But in a carefully controlled and beautiful performance Charlie Plummer conveys so much emotion. All he wants is a life of some stability and something or someone to love. Simple things a lot of us take for granted and some of us are cursed never to have.

Lean On Pete is a real sleeper of a movie and should have gotten more recognition than it did. I defy anyone to watch this and have a dry eye when finished. Simple and hauntingly beautiful.