By: debbie lynn elias
From the opening titles and up through the closing credits, and with everything in between, never once would one, nor did I, suspect that LET GO is Brian Jett’s feature debut as writer and director. So solidly constructed are the narrative and the characters, so delicately interlaced are the layered stories, so strong is the emotional beauty of nuanced subtlety in dialogue and visuals, and all wrapped up with visually and emotionally color and creativity, that on watching LET GO, you won’t want to let go.
Emotionally substantive with textured layers of light poignancy, we quickly meet Artie, Darla and Kris. Ex-cons all, they all share the parole officer, Walter. Artie a curmudgeonly old coot well into his golden years, recently served time for old school heists and bank robberies. On release, he finds that life has passed him by as his best friend passed away over a year ago and his old partners have settled into respectable lives as grandfathers now playing ball with their grandkids. Darla, a quirky young woman with the sultry air of a young Lauren Bacall likes to live life in the fast line and is currently using her feminine wiles to hide from her ex-boyfriend from whom she stole…and then even tried to sell her engagement ring on eBay. Kris is a surprise. A once well-respected doctor from an Ivy League school, Kris was convicted of a hot topic white collar crime, insurance fraud against Blue Cross to the tune of a few million dollars and in the process lost his wife and marriage. And then there’s Walter. Married and miserable, he is drowning in an empty unfulfilled life. Yet, it is Walter to whom Darla, Artie and Kris look to for help in putting their own lives back together. Ironically, while life has been passing our three ex-cons by during their incarcerations, it has also passed by for Walter, the man on the outside who has seemingly everything – a secure job, nice house, wife, paycheck.
But, can a leopard change their spots? Or find redemption? As Artie reconnects with his old pals Frosty, Dimples and Donuts, he urges them to get the gang back together again and pull another job. He also finds the embers of an old flame stirring in his heart when he meets up with Phil’s widow, Helen. Darla, on being hunted down by her ex, Frank, must figure out how to get the $50,000 Frank wants as reimbursement for the old engagement ring and in payment of his emotional damages by her “breaking his heart”. Kris, stripped of his medical license, is forced to take menial jobs, none of which he can tolerate or master and then comes face to face with his ex and her very successful new beau which just deflates him even further. As for Walter, well, he’s taken more than a shine to Darla and more than a parole officer’s interest in his charges. Does he have the courage to stop treading water in a loveless empty life and either make his marriage work or move on?
The magic of LET GO is in the performances and Jett has assembled a masterful one starting with Ed Asner. As the curmudgeonly Artie, Asner’s crisis of conscious and attempts at redemption are perhaps the most heartfelt. Here is an actor we have embraced for generations, an actor who has payed some of the most beloved curmudgeons in tv history, not to mention stellar turn as Santa Claus. Asner has a built in history with the audience that flows into the character of Artie. You see the regret on his face and hear the pain in his voice with every bark and growl. Moving is an understatement. And then hook him up with legendary character actors Jack Carter, Garrett Morris and Rance Howard, not to mention a lovely turn by veteran Peggy McKay as Helen. Asner and McKay together are nothing short of magic.
The real surprise is Kevin Hart. Known for his over-the-top, loud mouthed frenetic comedic skills, as Kris, he brings an understated tame humor and dramatic sensitivity that is thoughtful and reflecting, welcoming and eye-opening to the depth of his acting skills. I admired Hart’s work before. After seeing LET GO, I respect his talents even more.
Gillian Jacobs is a delicious delight as Darla, charming us one minute with coy seduction, fearful and panicked the next. Jacobs masterfully walks that fine line between camp and drama.
As Walter, David Denman is equally delightful becoming more and more likeable and endearing as the story progresses and as Walter becomes more involved in his parolees lives. Slowly going from mopey melancholy to brightening up, smiling, opening up and adding inflection to his voice, Denman’s early controlled emotion, becomes looser and more at ease.
Not to be missed is some great wry comedy by Simon Helberg who, as Frank, gives smarmy ass new meaning!
Written and directed by Brian Jett, the crux of the story celebrates and is built upon co-dependence of the characters and a celebration of the human connection and interactions that we so often take for granted. Tapping into human nature, Jett has an ability to make seeming minutiae so integral and important to the story. Characters are likeable and he avoids cliche.
Together with his cinematographers Collin Brink and Eduardo Mayen, Jett is meticulous with creating a cohesive visual tonal bandwidth, providing calculated lensing that is enhanced by framing, lighting and vibrant use of color all providing a beautiful metaphoric visual story. Asner’s Artie always sees his landlady through a barred lobby area a la jail cell; Hart’s Kris, a former doctor lives in a white house with everything in it white, just like a doctor’s coat and let’s not forget that Kris was convicted of a “white collar’ crime; Darla, known for “using” men, not only always wears signature femme fatale red lipstick but has clothing and props punctuated with rich lush reds; Walter lives in a house awash with blue and empty blue glass vases which just screams drowning emptiness. Fun creative scene transitions pop up as dioramas of Los Angeles that are kitschy and cool. A fantasy dreamlike sequence involving Walter and Darla shot in black and white also adds dimension to the rich tapestry. Then toss in the 12 distinctive locations used for shooting throughout Los Angeles, not the least of which is a pivotal scene in the Kris storyline which takes place at the corner of Wilshire and Highland, right across the street from the Cochran Law Firm offices.
From characters to story to color and light and everything in between, you’ll never want to let go of LET GO.
Artie – Ed Asner
Kris – Kevin Hart
Darla – Gillian Jacobs
Walter – David Denman
Written and Directed by Brian Jett.
LET GO is available on VOD and DVD as of August 21, 2012.
