PHOTO BY PHOTO BY SEBASTIAN MLYNARSKI; COURTESY OF ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS
WINTER’S BONE
Where is it playing?: The Palm
What's it rated?: R
What's it worth?: $9.50
(Steve)
What's it worth?: $10.00
(Glen)
Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) goes on the hunt for her father, who put the family home in jeopardy when he skipped out on his bail. In her search for him through her downtrodden Ozarks community, Ree upsets folks from the local criminal community, including her uncle Teardrop (John Hawkes), local crime lord Thump Milton (Ron “Stray Dog” Hall), and Thump’s wife Merab (Dale Dickey). If Ree can’t find her father, or at least his body, she, her invalid mother, and her two younger siblings (Isaiah Stone and Ashlee Thompson) will find themselves homeless. (100 min.)
Glen Essentially a detective story, this harrowing and affecting tale features a powerful female protagonist whose tenacity, bravery, and nobility shine through despite heartbreaking poverty amid unapologetic patriarchy. Ree Dolly is the only thing holding her family together, so when their home is jeopardized by her bail-jumping father, she’s forced to search through the drug-infested underbelly of her Ozarks community in search of him. The people she encounters—all relatives of one sort or another—clearly think blood only runs so deep, and Ree soon discovers her meth-cooking father may have been killed by his own kin. Without a body, however, she can’t prove he didn’t skip bail, but those who know his whereabouts would rather he remain unfound. In this insular, violent community, Ree’s guts and perseverance are all that stand between her family and homelessness. Writer-director Debra Granik has crafted a haunting and unforgettable film, one you won’t want to miss.
Steve I was very pleased to see two actors from my favorite TV series, Deadwood, in prominent roles in this film: John Hawkes and Garrett Dillahunt. According to IMDB, they’ve been in plenty of films since the demise of Deadwood, but this is the first I’ve seen them both in. Their acting skills are tremendous, and fortunately the rest of the cast of Winter’s Bone is on the same level for this very twisted journey. It has a little bit of a Lord of the Rings vibe (or any other fantasy adventure story) in the sense that Ree has to embark on a perilous journey to find an object to save herself and her family (the object being her father, dead or alive), combined with Deliverance. Yes, that’s a strange combination of ideas, but the events that unfolded on the screen kept my attention from beginning to end. There are no big gun fights, and there’s only a little violence, but there’s rather a lot of dialogue that’s a capstone for some incredibly horrible goings on in this nastily incestuous community. Considering how realistically the characters were portrayed, the one thing I have a problem with is how attractive Ree is compared to the haggard-looking cast. This isn’t to say there aren’t pretty girls in the Ozarks, but I wonder if they cast a pretty face in the lead role simply to have someone attractive on the movie posters. Because Winter’s Bone isn’t mainstream in any sense, I didn’t figure the director would succumb to pressure from the moneymen to present a glamorous face.
Glen Maybe, but there’s no question Jennifer Lawrence commands the lead as Ree. She has a quiet nobility and fierce determination. What I loved about the film are some of the little details. In the beginning, Ree tenderly quizzes her younger sister as they walk to school, and once there, Ree wanders the halls, first looking in on a class for young parents as a teacher shows high schoolers the correct way to pick up and hold an infant. Then she watches as a group of ROTC students practice walking in formation. Viewers are meant to understand these are Ree’s two choices: teenage pregnancy and a continuing cycle of poverty or joining the military. Another scene with her and a military recruiter is equally touching as she explains that she needs the $40,000 signing bonus to save the family’s home and her invalid mother and younger siblings. The recruiter tells her that her life taking care of her family is more of a challenge than joining the military, and that she should “buck up.” It’s positively tragic. Yet ultimately, this is an uplifting film that demonstrates how strength of character can transcend the soul-crushing weight of abject poverty. Despite the drugs, violence, and bleakness of her community, Ree proves that a strong-willed 17-year-old’s love of her family is more powerful than the forces aligned against her.
Steve Those ideas are very nice and all Glen, but the movie does finish in a rather open-ended way, as we have no idea whether or not Ree and her family will prevail against the poverty, drugs, and strange family activities. Then again, this isn’t really a story about triumph, but rather a story about her journey in a very distinct time frame that just happens to end with a slightly positive note. And that doesn’t do much to overshadow the tragedy her family has gone through. There are a lot of things I’m left wondering about in the film, like why her mother was sick, how the extended family became a drug-making clan, why the father decided to turn against the family, and more. All of this is a good thing, though, because it’s purely an exercise in contemplation about the film after watching it; the viewer doesn’t really have to know the answers to any of these questions. All in all, this seems more like a European-style drama than an American film because the story doesn’t get wrapped up in a tidy package at the end and there are these lingering questions left to the viewer’s own opinions. Lastly, I will mention that the camera work and overall cinematography were gorgeous, especially since the camera was focused mostly on the details rather than wide, all-encompassing shots. It’s definitely worth viewing in the theater.
Glen Starkey is a New Times staff writer and Steve Miller is New Times’ staff photographer. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com and semiller@newtimesslo.com.
New Times’ movie reviews are written and compiled by writers for FilmCritic, an online entertainment site located at filmcritic.com, Glen Starkey, Steve E. Miller, and H.W. Moss.
