Winter’s Bone (2010) Roadside Attractions/Drama RT: 100 minutes Rated R (some drug material, language, violent content) Director: Debra Granik Screenplay: Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini Music: Dickon Hinchliffe Cinematography: Michael McDonough Release date: June 11, 2010 (US) Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Isaiah Stone, Ashlee Thompson, Valerie Richards, Garret Dillahunt, Dale Dickey, Lauren Sweetser, Cody Shiloh Brown, Shelley Waggener, William White, Casey MacLaren, Kevin Breznahan, Ron “Stray Dog” Hall, Tate Taylor, Sheryl Lee. Box Office: $6.5M (US)/$13.7M (World)
Rating: ****
There are very few certainties in life. Death, taxes and a grape jelly sandwich landing facedown on a brand new carpet are the first to come to mind. Here’s another. If not for Natalie Portman, fellow Best Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence would have walked off with the Oscar for her tremendous performance in Winter’s Bone. Her nomination alone is an incredible feat because it’s her first major film role. Sadly, she had the misfortune of going up against Ms. Portman who blew moviegoers away as a disturbed ballerina in the psychological drama Black Swan. There’s no question Natalie deserved to win that year, but part of me wanted to see Jennifer deliver an upset and take home the golden statuette. What she does in Winter’s Bone is nothing short of miraculous. At 19, she pulls off a role that would elude several more seasoned actresses.
Lawrence takes center stage as Ree Dolly, a 17YO girl living in the rural Ozark Mountain region of Missouri. It’s on her to take care of her younger siblings, 12YO Sonny (Stone, American Honey) and 6YO Ashlee (Thompson), and keep the house running. Her mentally ill mother (Richards) is basically useless. Her father, a manufacturer of meth, isn’t around. He hasn’t been seen in a while. It would appear he jumped bail while awaiting trial on drug charges. This spells trouble for his family. He put up his house and property as collateral. If he doesn’t make his court appearance, bail will be forfeited and his family will be out in the cold. Ree knows something is amiss because “Dad ain’t no runner.” She decides to look for him herself even though it’s dangerous.
Director Debra Granik (Leave No Trace) doesn’t even try to soften any edges in Winter’s Bone. Instead, she gives us a raw, realistic view of a people that don’t take kindly to folks asking questions about their business, not even kin (most of the area residents are related somehow). They’re all involved in the meth trade to some extent. They’re the modern version of moonshiners. They adhere to an unwritten code of silence not unlike the Mafia or other criminal organizations. When Ree starts going around asking questions about her father’s whereabouts, nobody is willing to speak, not even the man’s own brother, her uncle Teardrop (Hawkes, The Sessions). Even though her search puts her in danger on more than one occasion, she’s not willing to give up until she gets an answer. She can’t. The future and well-being of her family depends on it.
Granik takes us inside a culture of people living in abject poverty in an insular part of the country. What’s interesting about them is how they believe in helping each other out. One of Ree’s neighbors regularly drops off deer meat and vegetables so the kids have something to eat. At the same time, everybody balks when it comes to discussing matters regarding the illegal trade in which a lot of them are involved. Those that aren’t directly involved most definitely know somebody that is. Although she’s continuously told to back off, Ree keeps asking questions that nobody wants to answer. It finally leads to Ree getting a beat down from female associates of the local crime boss, her grandfather (Hall).
I am in awe of Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone. She delivers a truly magnificent performance as Ree, a teen carrying the weight of her family on her back. It may as well be the whole world for the strength and resolve she displays while dealing with dangerous people more likely to hurt her than help her. She’s clearly a product of her rough environment. She’s strong, intelligent, resourceful and fiercely loyal to her family. We’re made to wonder how she got this way. It certainly didn’t come from any member of her family.
Everything Ree does, big or small, is with purpose. When she considers enlisting in the Army, she’s less interested in serving her country than the $40,000 promised in the recruitment ads. Her family could really use the money. However, if she leaves home, there’d be nobody to take care of her mother and siblings. It’s a tough decision, one that she struggles with until she realizes there’s only one right choice for her and her family. Lawrence makes it completely believable and not just with words. Her face, at once serene and expressive, says more about her urgent situation than any amount of expository dialogue.
Lawrence is counterbalanced nicely by Hawkes as Teardrop, a volatile and unpredictable sort who always appears on the verge of violence. He’s one of the first to warn Ree of the dangers of continuing down a path she should avoid altogether. Every scene he’s in abounds with intensity. He’s a terrifying fellow. You never know how he’s going to react to any given situation. A nighttime ride in his pickup leaves the viewer on edge worrying for Ree’s safety. He loves his niece in his own way and wants to help her, but he’s scared of what his criminal associates (many of them family members) will do to him if he does. You’re never sure he won’t kill her just to save her from herself.
Winter’s Bone is a crime story told with equal parts economy and complexity. It doesn’t rely on big action set-pieces, yet it still manages to thrill with its high level of tension stemming from Ree’s journey through a backwoods hell. This is where Michael McDonough’s starkly beautiful cinematography comes into play. This movie is rich with atmosphere. The cruel, bleak, wintry landscape reflects the cold, uncaring mindscapes of the characters and the world they inhabit. It’s a place so alienated from the rest of the world that it’s almost like a parallel universe. Granik and co-writer Anne Rosellini understand it with eerie precision. It shows in the details. The local high school, knowing the limited options of the student body, offers courses in child care and military training. Ree lives in a world where hope for the future is a luxury nobody can afford. Her big dream, her only dream really, is ensuring her family isn’t homeless in a week’s time.
The film also benefits from a chilling score by Dickon Hinchliffe as well as a soundtrack that makes excellent use of bluegrass and gospel, two musical staples of mountain folk. It augments the naturalistic look and feel of Winter’s Bone. There’s none of the polish and shine you’d find in a project backed by a major studio. Granik isn’t afraid to expose the bare bones and sinew of an impoverished backwoods region where people’s yards are strewn with junk and their most valuable possessions are well-guarded secrets. In the midst of it all, Lawrence shines brightly. This is the moment she became a star. More than a decade later, I’m still impressed. She’s amazing in every scene whether she’s pleading with hostile, uncooperative neighbors for answers or shedding a single tear as she begs her catatonic mother for any kind of help. Rich in characterization and atmosphere, Winter’s Bone is depressing and rewarding in equal measures. It doesn’t hold out much hope for Ree’s future, but it assures us she’ll be okay no matter what.
