Review of Winter's Bone (2010) by Gregory G — 17 May 2014
An atmospheric, erie Southern Gothic set in the desolate Ozarks where illegal methamphetamine is manufactured and a code of silence protecting the trade is a way of life even among family. This is a searing portrait of poverty in rural America that we rarely get to see in the movies.
The landscape is harsh, littered with abandoned homes and automobiles. Based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell, this is a survival story where the 17-year-old heroine, Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence), who acts as head of the household to her younger brother and sister, journeys through the dark underbelly of the community searching for her absentee father to avoid eviction.
We see Ree skinning a squirrel and teaching her siblings how to fire a gun like Robinson Crusoe. She's fiercely intelligent and resolute without any pretenses. Ree is one of the great heroines in modern film and the young Jennifer Lawrence completely inhabits the role in a remarkable low-key performance.
John Hawkes is amazing as Teardrop; he is menacing at first then benevolent with no artifice. Directed with grace and simplicity by Debra Granik. Written by Granick and Anne Rosellini. With Kevin Breznahan, a superb Dale Dickey, and Garrett Dillahunt.
This review of Winter's Bone (2010) was written by Gregory G on 17 May 2014.
Winter's Bone has generally received very positive reviews.
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