critics consensus

Led by a gripping performance from Christopher Eccleston, Let Him Have It sounds a compelling call for justice on behalf of its real-life protagonist. Read critic reviews

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Let Him Have It Photos

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Movie Info

In this fact-based film, British working class teens Derek Bentley (Christopher Eccleston) and Chris Craig (Paul Reynolds) take to behaving like the film noir antiheroes they idolize, and Chris begins carrying a gun to look the part. Unfortunately, the boys have a run-in with a police officer that takes a tragic turn, and Derek and Chris end up on trial for murder. While Chris is still a minor and faces only a prison sentence, the older Derek will be put to death if he can't prove his innocence.

Rating:

R
Genre:

crime, drama
Original Language:

English
Director:

Peter Medak
Producer:

Luc Roeg
Release Date (Streaming):

Feb 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA):

$83.3K
Runtime:

1h 59m
Sound Mix:

Surround

Cast & Crew

Christopher Eccleston
Derek Bentley

Paul Reynolds
Chris Craig

Tom Courtenay
William Bentley

Tom Bell
Fairfax

Eileen Atkins
Lilian Bentley

Clare Holman
Iris Bentley

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Critic Reviews for Let Him Have It

All Critics (37) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (31) | Rotten (6)

Courtenay slowly works his way into the center of the movie's sympathies. When he embraces his remaining family at the moment of his son's execution, his sorrow seems boundless.

October 28, 2014 | Full Review…

Peter Rainer
Los Angeles Times
As the protagonist/victim, Eccleston gives a superb, riveting performance in his feature-film debut, as does Reynolds, another newcomer who deftly handles the role of the gun-crazy and trigger-happy Chris.

October 28, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Clifford Terry
Chicago Tribune
Let Him Have It is unabashedly weighted toward the perspective of the murderer as victim -- a notion that does not enjoy much public currency in our more violent times. But if ever there was a victim of the judicial system, it was Derek Bentley.

October 28, 2014 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

Desmond Ryan
Philadelphia Inquirer
The script, by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, finds enough quirks in its protagonists to lift them above the issues-movie premise. Michael Kamen's atmospheric chamber score is also crucial to the film's success.

October 28, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Michael Upchurch
Seattle Times
A chiaroscuro drama of unstoppable tragedy.

October 28, 2014 | Rating: A- | Full Review…

Mary Makarushka
Entertainment Weekly
Fairness isn't the issue here, dramatic depth is: You don't have to favor capital punishment to feel yourself being manipulated.

October 28, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
This is deeply moving, and I nearly wept.

July 19, 2018 | Full Review…

Harriet Waugh
The Spectator
The last 30 minutes of the story are overwhelmingly strong, blending human drama and social history into a series of extremely moving scenes, leading to a brief coda that's as unexpected and audacious as anything seen on a movie screen in years.

October 28, 2014 | Full Review…

David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor
It's the kind of resonant, controlled and moving film that is all but unmakeable in America today. More's the shame.

October 28, 2014 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Stephen Hunter
Baltimore Sun
It does not follow that behind every great miscarriage of justice lies a great movie. Case in point: the well-intentioned but ultimately unsatisfying Let Him Have It.

October 28, 2014 | Full Review…

Joanne Kaufman
People Magazine
This recreation seethes with quiet outrage, building, albeit slowly, to a climax that should put anyone who favours state retribution over rehabilitation to shame.

October 28, 2014 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Matt Glasby
Total Film
With drab-chic production, Christopher Eccleston's marvellous central performance and a pop nostalgia soundtrack, the odious miscarriage of justice comes vividly to life to scandalise anew those unfamiliar with the true facts.

October 28, 2014 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Alan Jones
Radio Times

View All Critic Reviews (37)

Audience Reviews for Let Him Have It

May 22, 2010

Quite a strong movie, based on a true story, highlighting miscarriage of justice.

familiar s Super Reviewer
Jan 26, 2009

Well made, dramatic case study of the crime, trial and subsequent execution of Derek Bentley. Director Peter Medak and a very talented cast have put together a powerful argument against capital punishment and a scathing indictment of Britain's jurisprudence.

Randy T Super Reviewer
Aug 05, 2008

a pretty good film about petty crime and punishment in 1950s england. christopher eccleston is really quite a good actor and he shows it here. he plays a bit of a special case (as in a bit retarded or something) and well it's pretty obvious that the pigs should've realised he shouldn't have ever gone to court. oh well, same old with the bacon bastards! just a shame eccleston didn't have his re-tardis with him here

Sanity Assassin ! Super Reviewer
Apr 09, 2007

Intelligent drama in which a mentally challenged petty criminal is railroaded onto the gallows, causing the establishment to re-evaluate it's use of the death penalty. Well acted and thought provoking.

xGary X Super Reviewer