Lucas Hedges makes troubled young men seem ordinary without making their distress seem small. We value his unforced work in ensembles, but would like more parts that ask something of him beyond vulnerability.
Fi1m perspective
In Let Them All Talk (2020), Lucas Hedges's Tyler Hughes runs messages between the older women. He falls for Gemma Chan's Karen, who has asked him to find out what his aunt is writing. Steven Soderbergh gives him a place among the conversations, though the romance is one of several threads the film keeps putting down. Hedges is often cast as an ordinary young man in complicated circumstances. The difficulty here is finding enough for that young man to do.
Early supporting work included Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). The breakthrough came with Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea (2016), in which he played the sardonic Patrick Chandler. The part suited his ability to make an adolescent's distress convincing without overplaying it. Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird (2017) continued the ensemble work, where his understatement is an asset.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) also benefits from a persuasive cast, with Hedges playing Robbie. Martin McDonagh's dialogue is sharp, but the script sometimes hurries us towards sympathy its characters have not earned. We recommend it chiefly for Frances McDormand, and would not make Robbie the main reason to see it. Hedges's presence is no guarantee that the writing will be as convincing as the actors.
The lead roles in Boy Erased (2018) and Ben Is Back (2018) made the repetition in his casting more conspicuous. These were further assignments as young men in crisis, drawing on his sympathetic way with distress. The acting can be convincing and the choice of parts still become familiar. We would like to see his restraint tested by a less predictable assignment.
Let Them All Talk brings him back to an ensemble and exposes a different limitation: a smaller part still needs somewhere to go. We were frustrated by the way Tyler's interest in Karen is repeatedly picked up and dropped, because it gives their scenes so little chance to develop. Chan is crisp and underused, and Hedges has the same shortage of material. Choose the film for the older women, not for a substantial Hedges role.
Biography
Lucas Hedges is an American actor. Born on 12 December 1996 in Brooklyn, New York City, he is the son of filmmaker Peter Hedges. He studied theatre at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Hedges began his career with a role in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom (2012). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Manchester by the Sea (2016). Other notable film roles include Lady Bird (2017), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Boy Erased (2018) and Let Them All Talk (2020), in which he played Tyler Hughes.
On stage, Hedges made his Broadway debut in a 2018 revival of The Waverly Gallery and appeared in a 2023 West End production of Brokeback Mountain.
