Movie Review: Winter's Bone (2010)
One of the better movies 2010 has yet to offer
Photo: Roadside Attractions
Debra Granik's Winter's Bone is the thoroughly engaging story of Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence), a 17-year-old girl forced to track down her meth-cooking father as he's put their rundown house in the Ozark woods up for his bail bond and disappeared. If he doesn't show up for his court date, the house is lost and Ree, her two younger siblings and invalid mother will be forced to live among the wolves. As simple as that description may seem, the cast of characters that make up this film turn it into something you'd never immediately suspect.
The cast includes Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Lauren Sweetser, Kevin Breznahan, Isaiah Stone, Shelley Waggener, Ashlee Thompson, Tate Taylor and Dale Dickey. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Winter's Bone" is a Roadside Attractions release, directed by Debra Granik and is rated R for some drug material, language and violent content. The running time is 1 hour 40 minutes.
Jennifer Lawrence as the determined young woman asked to grow up too soon is the stand-out here and has been recognized as such ever since Winter's Bone premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, winning Best Picture and Screenplay. Last year Lawrence turned in an underrated performance by comparison in Guillermo Arriaga's The Burning Plain, though here we find her in even more despair. Facing a group of people that would just as soon feed her to the hogs than help her find her father, Lawrence channels every emotion outside of happiness as Ree must scratch, scrape and splash her way through the unforgiving landscape where helpful words are hard to come by. "Talking just causes witnesses," she's told and it's a line delivered as a threat just as much as it is an understood fact.
Only once do we see Ree breakdown, and it's at the feet of her mother who couldn't offer her help if she wanted to. Otherwise, though facing physical harm, she makes her way through meth dealing hillbillies and the authorities with steeled determination. She gains your respect and through that, your compassion.
Granik is also not to be forgotten as she directed and co-wrote the screenplay based on Daniel Woodrell's novel of the same name. This isn't easy material to deal with, but Granik's treatment is intoxicating in its raw presentation. You never get the impression the curtains are closed as the lives of these down-and-out characters are fully on display. And just as she continues to remind us of the desperate situation Ree is in, she also gives us other moments specifically dedicated to Ree's two siblings reminding us of what's at stake, be it training them how to hunt squirrels or simply watching them innocently play amongst rolled bails of hay.
Where Winter's Bone will likely lose audiences is with its slow build that some may find boring and the fact it never rises above its own bleakness. This isn't a happy tale and to anyone that finds any measure of hope by the end isn't looking this film squarely in the eyes. By the time the film comes to a close, the eyes are dead and looking off into the distance as to say, "What's left?" Hope is spent and so are you.
I never saw Granik's debut feature, Down to the Bone, in 2004, but I am immediately interested. So often we wonder just when will more female directors get the respect they deserve and now I have one more to add to my personal list. With Winter's Bone it would seem we not only have a director to keep an eye on but an actress that has also gained the attention of many. Quite a feat for a small independent film I've already seen twice and would just as soon watch again.
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Saw this at SIFF and I'm eager to see it again; it's in my top five of the festival.
Looking forward to this. I recommend the book to those who like the movie – it's written in quite a sparse style, a bit like Cormac McCarthy.
One thing I think definitely needs to be mention is John Hawkes performance. He was excellent in playing tear drop and if you meet him in person you would soon realize how much he threw himself into that role. I really hope he gets a nomination for best supporting actor but I already know at this point he is going to be overlooked.
I just came back from this and I thought it was really solid. Both Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes did wonderful jobs. You really get absorbed into Ree's world and it stays with you for a while. Like Precious, some naysayers called it poverty porn, but every movie can't be about rich or middle class people. I also saw Jennifer in the Burning Plain and she is definitely miles better than a lot of her peers, but I hope she switches it up a bit.
Excellent film that left me feeling hopeless for these people and thankful that I've had a better lot in life. Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes were amazing.
Just saw this on DVD. Truly excellent. Everything about the movie rings true as the filmakers paid careful attention to detail. I've known southerners and midwesterners from my time in the army, and the manner of speaking in the film is perfect.