Directed By: Debra Granik
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garrett Dillahunt, & Kevin Breznahan
MPAA Rating: R
My Rating: 4 / 10
Okay, let's face it, I am just about the only person in the world who hasn't prayed at the altar of Winter's Bone this year. Critics fell head over heels in love with it, it has been nominated for a slew of awards, and it even won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Knowing all of this, I went into Winter's Bone quite excited for what it had to offer...but I came out with a decidedly different impression. It just isn't that good. What this film was intended to be was a compelling dramatic thriller about a young girl trying to find her father, a journey that provided insights into the shocking poverty of the Ozarks, as well as the debilitating crystal meth ring running in the area. That could have made for a wonderful film. Unfortunately, Winter's Bone plays out more like some redneck mafia movie, where everyone stares ominously at everyone else and says things like, "Come with me. I've got something you need to see."
I was never intrigued by the movie, because I never believed any of it. Having never visited any part of the Ozarks, I can't say for certain whether the stereotype this film perpetuates about its inhabitants is true or not. I can't say that they aren't all dirty, grimy hillbillies who live in ramshackle houses, as this movie would have you believe, because I've never been there. But, what I can tell you is that Winter's Bone doesn't make that stereotype believable. Instead, it feels forced upon us. Other critics pointed this out, and I agree with them: Winter's Bone seems to confuse grimness with profundity. It hurled a lot of very sad, emotionally-charged imagery at me, but I never felt connected to the story enough to be affected by it. It's not that the sets or performances aren't believably bleak. It's that I felt as though the filmmakers were substituting real dramatic depth with a lot of surface details, essentially trying to trick audiences into thinking they're seeing more dynamic material than they actually are.
I was never intrigued by the movie, because I never believed any of it. Having never visited any part of the Ozarks, I can't say for certain whether the stereotype this film perpetuates about its inhabitants is true or not. I can't say that they aren't all dirty, grimy hillbillies who live in ramshackle houses, as this movie would have you believe, because I've never been there. But, what I can tell you is that Winter's Bone doesn't make that stereotype believable. Instead, it feels forced upon us. Other critics pointed this out, and I agree with them: Winter's Bone seems to confuse grimness with profundity. It hurled a lot of very sad, emotionally-charged imagery at me, but I never felt connected to the story enough to be affected by it. It's not that the sets or performances aren't believably bleak. It's that I felt as though the filmmakers were substituting real dramatic depth with a lot of surface details, essentially trying to trick audiences into thinking they're seeing more dynamic material than they actually are.
So, basically, the story goes something like this: Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) is a tough-as-nails young woman who struggles to care for her sick mother, raise her two young siblings, and make ends meet. When her father uses their home and land as collateral for his bail and then misses his court date, Ree must navigate the local crystal meth dealers in order to find her father and save her family's home. The drug dealers are led by a man named Thump Milton (Ronnie Hall), a grizzled man who we can tell considers himself to be the Ozarks' answer to Don Corleone. It is perhaps the film's most comical problem that, when he walks around (in his boots, cowboy hat, and all-denim ensemble), I wasn't scared of him, because I was too busy having flashbacks to Boss Hogg trying to strip mine Hazzard County. There might be people like him in the world and, in reality, they might be as frightening as Winter's Bone intends for him to be...but they don't make great cinematic villains. Sometimes, fear doesn't translate well to screen...especially when it resembles a 70's sitcom villain.
Now, I know that it sounds like I'm being very hard on Winter's Bone...but, in reality, it really isn't terrible. I mean, if forced to watch this or The Human Centipede, I would choose this every time...no seriously, every single time. Though its problems are big enough to undermine the film as a whole, there are some bright spots. Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes, both of whom received Oscar nominations for their respective performances, are very good here. Lawrence, especially, gives the kind of performance that could launch a great career. She's sympathetic and likable, while being simultaneously harsh and gritty. Also, I found the film to be well-paced. Though some claim that it was slow, I actually felt that it was paced deliberately and fluidly. Even if I didn't particularly enjoy the film, I was never bored, and I suppose that's a pretty big achievement. Of course, "I wasn't bored" isn't exactly a resounding recommendation either. Every year, there seems to be at least one film that everyone really loved, but that just didn't click with me. Winter's Bone is one of them.
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