Review of Wind River (2017) by Robert A — 31 Aug 2017

Wind River: Misses the Mark but Tries real Hard.

When Wind River doesn't try to be more than a nice mystery featuring clashing white and Native cultures, grief and meditations while staring at wide open spaces, it works. When it turns into a hyper tense drama of shock and violence, it plays as false.

There is a rape scene that was unnecessary and drawn out in the film. It did nothing to add to the mystery or the plot of the film. In fact, it ruined was little mystery the story had. It was a reveal that was unnecessary.

Then there is the unrealistic shoot out. It is highly unlikely it would have happen at all, except perhaps for one hot headed character. If they had limited the action to him, the plot would have made more sense. However unrealistic this gunfight was, it was well filmed.

Was Jeremy Renner's character, Cory Lambert, a white savior in Wind River? Partially. He wasn't a white knight in the classic sense. He didn't save the day, he didn't rescue all the people, but he did save some. The character, a white hunter from Fish and Wildlife, is not out of place in Wyoming. However, it could have easily been a Native American actor and all the hemming and hawing about belonging on the reservation as a white guy would have been avoided.

Renner does a good job with the material, regardless. And Elizabeth Olsen does a fine job as Agent Banner from Las Vegas. There is one scene where she is reminiscent of Agent Starling from "Silence of the Lambs", but the characters are different. Starling presented a preppy image, Agent Banner is more earthly and less cerebral. And the cases are different.

Some critics call "Wind River" slow paced. That's only true if you expected the pacing of Fast and Furious or Super hero film. The pacing matched the setting and plot and some people will find it slow.

Others call the sound track dismal. It was quiet and minimalist. I guess they wanted an overwrought John Williams or Hans Zimmer sound track. The music works well for the film, except the times I heard the chanted words. The vocals distracted from the viewing.

There are many out of character actions by characters in the film. The actions by Lambert at the end of the film didn't make sense. Why did he go to save some people and make sure they were okay and not check on some of his closest friends? Why would private security draw on the police and Marshalls when they could have just asked for a warrant?

The film looks good and has some decent acting, but the plot doesn't hold enough mystery and that was spoiled in the end of the second act by an unnecessary, some might call exploitative, flashback.

Rating: Matinee.

It wasn't the worst rural, Native lands cop drama I've seen, but it had many problems.

Peace, Tex.