Winter's Bone

Ree is a rugged teenage girl who has taken the responsibility of taking care of her depressed mother, and two younger siblings once her drug manufacturing father takes off and doesn’t come back. But when the law takes pursuit of her father and can’t find him, they are planning on taking the house for collateral. Ree has to go on the hunt for her father with nothing but trouble ahead of her to save the house and her family.

Jennifer Lawrence plays the relentless young woman who walks from property to property in a rural town trying to find clues to the whereabouts of her father. Her uncle Teardrop (John Hawkes) is a cocaine addict and doesn’t think he has any power to help her either. Other people aren’t jumping at the opportunity to help her out aslo. They are instead pushing her away and withholding information. So Ree must fight for the facts that will save her family from people who may be more dangerous than thought.

As Ree tries to tackle this mystery she gets deeper and deeper into this town’s underground society. She faces dangers alone and but without fear. With her family’s survival on the line, Ree tries every option she can think of. She doesn’t back down from any fight but acts well above her age and truly tests her will and strength against those who have the power to do whatever they want.

This is my first time seeing a movie by Debra Granik. For my knowledge she hasn't come out with any big hits and this is the first. What a way to start. It has been nominated for Best Picture along with huge productions such as "The King's Speech" and "True Grit." 

This movie has very little dialogue and is spent in long silences with Ree and her thoughts, but somehow the audience doesn’t get bored with it. Every time she goes out for information we just hope she doesn’t get killed. Pretty much every time she leaves she does what she can to get information but also stay alive and protect her family. I have never seen Jennifer Lawrence in anything but now I really want to. She dominated the screen over other’s intimidating personality and glares.

It almost seems as if the entire cast was originally from that town. They all fit in so well. Even those who never spoke they felt as if they had lived in that town their whole life. And you could easily spot those who weren’t from around there and the filmmakers used that to their advantage. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had an open casting call for locals to come and play these parts. Based on their measly $2 million budget they didn’t have the money to cast bigger names and the film benefitted from it.

           

“Winter’s Bone” is an amazing tale of what a young woman will do to keep her family together. An original take on something that has been done hundreds of times. It’s a perfect example for the phrase “do it the same, only different.” It is a powerful, dramatic ride throughout the entire film.


FINAL GRADE: A