Review of Wind River (2017) by John M — 25 Sep 2017

Well, that escalated quickly. So this is about a hunter (Jeremy Renner) who finds a body of a Native American teenage girl in the middle of the snowy Wyoming wilderness. Foul play is suspected, so an FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) is brought in to investigate.

He knows the lay of the land, so they team up to see if they can figure out what exactly happened here. Now this appeared to me to be the quality adult movie that typically comes out right on the cusp of Oscar season.

There is a middle section between the blockbusters of summer and the quality of award season where it usually is a dumping ground, but there's usually a drama or two that stand out each year, like Gone Girl or Sicario.

This is right on that level, and by that statement, you should be able to tell if this is for you or not. Now I will offer the disclaimer that I've never been to Wyoming, but I do feel like this movie does a good job of capturing the essence of the state.

There are breathtaking vistas, and this strikes me as somewhere you would move to if you wanted to get away from any and everyone so as to become a recluse. It's very quiet simply because there is so little to do, but this is a story where the tension can be ratcheted up at a moment's notice.

Wind River is desolate in both setting and tone, and what pulls you into the story is the detective work. There is just so little to go off of at the beginning, you genuinely don't know how this case is going to be cracked.

They don't even have the name of a person of interest at the beginning, even after talking with the family of the deceased. I do think that this is a slow burn, but it is not without payoff. It picks up as it goes, and it reaches a point toward the end where you are all but sure to be covering your eyes.

It is so effective that it made the theater that my wife and I saw this in feel at least 15 degrees colder, and it is a story that is accessible. I feel like the acting of the two leads is worthwhile, but some of the members of the supporting cast are a bit lacking, and the dialogue could have sparkled more.

I really like Renner in this; while he is a hunter/tracker by occupation, he's ultimately a movie style cowboy with all of the tropes that come along with it, which is just something that I enjoy seeing on film.

I liked a lot of what this movie did with the storytelling, and if you think this movie is for you, it probably is.