K-SCORE: 82
Director: Debra Granik
Based on: Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes
Spoiler Level: Minor
“ the only role I’ve seen Jennifer Lawrence play that I thought she was particularly well-suited to”
Winter’s Bone does a great job of portraying the poverty, crime, and stubbornness of the people living in the Ozarks. The conflict is easy to understand. Ree, at seventeen, is the de facto parent of her two young siblings and they are going to lose their house and property because their father, a meth-cooking fugitive, put the estate up to cover his bail. She needs to find him, dead or alive, in order to keep the house, her siblings in her care, and her life together. The journey is brutal. It’s painful just considering that this is something that this girl needs to do. Even if she succeeds, it’s not like her life is going to be magically wonderful. It’s still going to be harder than most people can imagine. Her goal is damage control, and it’s going to take her to the world of drug dealers and abusive families.
This is the only role I’ve seen Jennifer Lawrence play that I thought she was particularly well-suited to. She’s excellent. The other actors aren’t Hollywood people - always a treat for me. They nail it, probably because they’re WAY too close to the real thing for any performance they deliver to be in the realm of comfortable. And the production quality of the film is just fine, nothing special, but tone matches content.
Winter’s Bone is also the kind of film that you never really want to watch, and you’ll certainly not want to watch again, but somehow, afterward, you’re glad you have watched it. I find that's a smaller-than-people-assume niche in the world of cinema, whereby the art form is largely a tool for appreciation and edification over enjoyment. Don’t get cocky, indie filmmakers. Most of your stories are just as broken as Hollywood’s.