Summer is upon us. With the blistering heat, long days and big budget blockbusters filling the screen each weekend, one may wonder why Roadside Attractions decided to release such a bleak, small Oscar contender at such a a time. Although it may run out of steam by the end the long journey that is Oscar campaigning, I’m glad we got this little gem amidst the schlock of the summer.
Debra Granik returns from her six-year hiatus with 2004’s Down to the Bone. Giving Vera Farmiga her breakout role in that Grand Jury-nominated Sundance hit, she came back this past January to claim the top prize. Like Farmiga, newcomer Jennifer Lawrence gives a star-turning performance in Winter’s Bone. Aided by a fantastic supporting cast and mystically bleak cinematography by Michael McDonough on the RED camera, the story is one of a slow burn, yet unforgettable.
Based on Daniel Woodrell‘s novel, Jennifer Lawrence is Ree Dolly; a 17 year-old who is on a search for her father, who put up their house on a bail bond and is nowhere to be found. She must fight against her equally poor and tight-knight community who will do anything to stop the truth from being revealed.
The comparisons to 2008’s equally bleak Frozen River are apt, but Bone sports a stronger supporting cast and more detailed environment. The first scenes of children playing on nearly broken skateboards across a junk-filled yard with a canvas of dead trees in the background creates a harrowing portrait. It’s not all dreary though. Granik is able to find an exorbitant amount of beauty in landscapes, a nice break from the intense noir story.
While much of the first half of the film is slow to ramp up as Lawrence visits her relatives, pleading for help, it sets the perfect tone for this noir. We ease into the environment, just like Granik had to do herself (as producer Anne Rosellini revealed during our post screening Q & A). We meet a vivid cast, most memorably John Hawkes as Teardrop. I’ve loved him in everything from Deadwood to Me and You and Everyone We Know, but never has he been so menacing. Every time he enters a scene, one can do nothing to predict his next move.
The real star here is Jennifer Lawrence. If she isn’t on the Best Actress list by the year’s end then I’ll be thankful that we have five better female performances coming our way. What makes her performance so special, aside from one particularly emotional scene, is there is no epic speech or rousing highlight. Lawrence masterfully just puts us right into the world she is living in. There are no second guesses or qualms, she is perfect from the first to the last frame she is on screen as we are enveloped into her desperate world.
As this noir spectacle unravels with precision, Granik never forgets how important her characters are. Some films in the genre forgo this necessity and rush the story in order to elevate the climax — with Winter’s Bone we are in tune with this character through her entire struggle. During the intense climax, we are never pulled away but rather our entire focus stays with how it effects Lawrence.
The bleak nature is a hard sell, but the story is one of a classic noir mold. More depressing than the actual story is that independent features like Winter’s Bone are completely rare next the normal trite we are accustomed to each weekend. If you want a break from the summer heat and the recycled adventures, there is nothing better than taking an unforgettable journey through this rugged terrain.
9 out 10