Review of Winter's Bone (2010) by Liam P — 29 Jan 2013

A young, willful teenage girl conducts a desperate hunt for her father, amidst the grey skies and brown, snow-kissed hills of an Ozark Mountain winter. It's a tough, winding trail that traverses thorny conversations with her cold, lip-zipped relatives as well as the bleak, desolate Missouri wilderness.

The selfish restraint of nearly every face in this young girl's world is infuriating - by the closing chapters I wanted to see them all brained with a baseball bat - but it's not that kind of a story.

Instead, the film takes a note from its young, headstrong protagonist and simply endures, waiting for the storm to blow itself out to see what's left behind. Jennifer Lawrence shines in the difficult leading role, balancing responsibility with determination, and enjoys plenty of help from a rich, convincing supporting cast.

It's also quite appropriately shot, with a focus on rural poverty and a permeating lack of color. Bleak, dark and emotionally exhausting, it's a powerful bit of cinema, but not something I could bear to watch multiple times.