"Winter's Bone" seems simple. Ree Dolly, 17, goes to the homes of her Ozarks neighbors, asking about her father's whereabouts. The father has used the family's home and timberland to pay bond to get out of jail, but he has disappeared. And if Ree doesn't find out what happened to him, she will be kicked off the land and become homeless, along with her mentally ill mother and her younger brother and sister.
Ree, played by Jennifer Lawrence, doesn't find many sympathetic neighbors in the hills of southeastern Missouri, where the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamines is rampant. Instead, she is greeted with coldness and brutality - and warnings that she is asking dangerous questions. Ree does everything she can to avoid starvation and keep her family together. She hunts squirrels and shows her brother how to prepare them for dinner. She chops wood for the fireplace. She seeks the advice of her mother, who shows no signs of understanding the family's desperation.
And it becomes increasingly clear that Ree will have to face these troubles alone - that her father must have been killed, and that neighbors are covering it up.
As an adaptation of the novel by Daniel Woodrell, "Winter's Bone" treads dangerous ground. Will it descend into hillbilly clichés? Will the cultural complexities of the Ozarks be overshadowed by the overwhelming sense of gloom?
Director Debra Granik manages to steer her way through these roadblocks with the gritty cinematography of Michael McDonough and a brilliant score by Dickon Hinchliffe, highlighting the folk songs of the region.
Granik also manages to elicit fine performances from Lawrence, who starred in Guillermo Arriaga's underappreciated "The Burning Plain," and from John Hawkes, a former Austin resident who plays Teardrop, Ree's volatile, violent uncle.
The movie, which played at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival after winning the grand jury prize at Sundance, has a shocking climax that's simultaneously horrifying and life-affirming. And like a Flannery O'Connor short story, all of the preceding storytelling seems both necessary and illuminative.
"Winter's Bone" cuts deep but finds hope amid the hurt.
'Winter's Bone'
Our grade: A-
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 99 min
MPAA rating: Unrated
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
