{"id":9896,"date":"2024-12-10T23:43:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T04:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=9896"},"modified":"2024-12-10T23:43:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T04:43:59","slug":"winters-bone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/12\/10\/winters-bone\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter’s Bone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Winter’s Bone<\/strong> (2010)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roadside Attractions\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 100 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (some drug material, language, violent content)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Debra Granik\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Dickon Hinchliffe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Michael McDonough\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 11, 2010 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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 \u201cStray Dog\u201d Hall, Tate Taylor, Sheryl Lee.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $6.5M (US)\/$13.7M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0There 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\u2019s 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<\/strong>. Her nomination alone is an incredible feat because it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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<\/strong> is nothing short of miraculous. At 19, she pulls off a role that would elude several more seasoned actresses.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lawrence takes center stage as Ree Dolly, a 17YO girl living in the rural Ozark Mountain region of Missouri. It\u2019s 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\u2019t around. He hasn\u2019t 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\u2019t make his court appearance, bail will be forfeited and his family will be out in the cold. Ree knows something is amiss because \u201cDad ain\u2019t no runner.\u201d She decides to look for him herself even though it\u2019s dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Director Debra Granik (Leave No Trace) doesn\u2019t even try to soften any edges in Winter’s Bone<\/strong>. Instead, she gives us a raw, realistic view of a people that don\u2019t take kindly to folks asking questions about their business, not even kin (most of the area residents are related somehow). They\u2019re all involved in the meth trade to some extent. They\u2019re 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\u2019s whereabouts, nobody is willing to speak, not even the man\u2019s own brother, her uncle Teardrop (Hawkes, The Sessions). Even though her search puts her in danger on more than one occasion, she\u2019s not willing to give up until she gets an answer. She can\u2019t. The future and well-being of her family depends on it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Granik takes us inside a culture of people living in abject poverty in an insular part of the country. What\u2019s interesting about them is how they believe in helping each other out. One of Ree\u2019s 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\u2019t directly involved most definitely know somebody that is. Although she\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n

\u00a0I am in awe of Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone<\/strong>. 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\u2019s clearly a product of her rough environment. She\u2019s strong, intelligent, resourceful and fiercely loyal to her family. We\u2019re made to wonder how she got this way. It certainly didn\u2019t come from any member of her family.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Everything Ree does, big or small, is with purpose. When she considers enlisting in the Army, she\u2019s 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\u2019d be nobody to take care of her mother and siblings. It\u2019s a tough decision, one that she struggles with until she realizes there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lawrence is counterbalanced nicely by Hawkes as Teardrop, a volatile and unpredictable sort who always appears on the verge of violence. He\u2019s one of the first to warn Ree of the dangers of continuing down a path she should avoid altogether. Every scene he\u2019s in abounds with intensity. He\u2019s a terrifying fellow. You never know how he\u2019s going to react to any given situation. A nighttime ride in his pickup leaves the viewer on edge worrying for Ree\u2019s safety. He loves his niece in his own way and wants to help her, but he\u2019s scared of what his criminal associates (many of them family members) will do to him if he does. You\u2019re never sure he won\u2019t kill her just to save her from herself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Winter’s Bone<\/strong> is a crime story told with equal parts economy and complexity. It doesn\u2019t rely on big action set-pieces, yet it still manages to thrill with its high level of tension stemming from Ree\u2019s journey through a backwoods hell. This is where Michael McDonough\u2019s 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\u2019s a place so alienated from the rest of the world that it\u2019s 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\u2019t homeless in a week\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The 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<\/strong>. There\u2019s none of the polish and shine you\u2019d find in a project backed by a major studio. Granik isn\u2019t afraid to expose the bare bones and sinew of an impoverished backwoods region where people\u2019s 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\u2019m still impressed. She\u2019s amazing in every scene whether she\u2019s 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<\/strong> is depressing and rewarding in equal measures. It doesn\u2019t hold out much hope for Ree\u2019s future, but it assures us she\u2019ll be okay no matter what.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winter’s Bone (2010)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roadside Attractions\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 100 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (some drug material, language, violent content)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Debra Granik\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Dickon Hinchliffe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Michael McDonough\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 11, 2010 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Isaiah Stone, Ashlee Thompson, Valerie Richards, Garret Dillahunt, Dale Dickey, Lauren Sweetser, Cody […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Winters-Bone-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9896"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10225,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9896\/revisions\/10225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}