Friday, January 20, 2012

Winter's Bone



Winter’s Bone tells the powerful tale of a daughter who has had enough. Ree is the daughter of a meth dealing lowlife who lives with her mother and two siblings in the rural Ozarks. One day a sheriff’s deputy arrives at the house looking for dear ole dad to remind him of an upcoming court date. Well, that date comes and goes and dad never shows up. Soon after a bail bondsman comes by and says they’ve had enough too and are going to take the family’s home and timber property that dad put up as collateral on his most recent bond. Ree is but a teenager, the other kids are little and mom is a space cadet. If they lose the home and the timber, well, that’s the end of the line. So, Ree sets off to find ole dad, come hell or high water and she will not stop until he’s home paying his dues.

I gotta confess, this movie just didn’t do it for me and I really don’t know why. It had many of the elements of movies I love (strong female protagonist, journey story, right prevailing over selfish evil), but for whatever reason, it just never sucked me in. It’s a good story that is well shot, but I was never all that engaged and the movie quickly left my mind. Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic as Ree and John Hawkes was good too, but the rest of the actors were pretty forgettable. So, in the end, I’m not sure what to say. It’s a well-made movie with an interesting story, it just wasn’t for me.

P.s. Is it weird that Debra Granik has now made two features and both have the word bone in them?

S’good

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