A Sundance Prizewinner With a Breakout Performance
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, as well as Best Screenplay at that festival, Winter's Bone (2010) is adapted from "country noir" author Daniel Woodrell's 2006 novel with the same title. Most of the critics categorize the film as a thriller, but perhaps a better description of it is given by director Debra Granik on the DVD commentary when she calls it a "dark fairytale." Be advised that although the ending is upbeat, this is a mostly grim movie.
Set during a bleak winter among the backwoods mountain people of the Missouri Ozarks, Winter's Bone features starkly beautiful cinematography. The movie also has a splendid breakout performance by young actress Jennifer Lawrence.
The heroine is Ree Dolly (Lawrence), a 17-year-old forced to take responsibility for her two younger siblings and their psychiatrically disabled mother. Ree's father is a meth cooker who has disappeared, and the authorities are about to take the house if he is not found. Ree goes on a quest to find her father, but it's risky: she must navigate through a community where everyone has ties to the illegal drug business and lives by a brutally enforced "no snitching" code.
The landscapes and houses in Winter's Bone feel authentic, and the people look and talk as if they might be Ozark backwoods types. But the filmmaking is slick, and the viewer is often conscious of being manipulated. There's a pivotal showdown in a barn that feels stagy. On the other hand, there are many moments, such as when Ree talks to an Army recruiter, that are compelling.
Bonus Materials
If you want to get an idea of what was involved in making Winter's Bone, watch the 47-minute making-of documentary. You will learn that the film was shot in the winter of 2009 in Taney and Christian counties in southern Missouri. You'll see a casting call in the small town of Forsyth, Missouri, evidently in the high school gym. You'll also see director Debra Granik working with actors in a number of scenes shot on properties owned by local families. And you'll see how a local man named Ron "Stray Dog" Hall suggests some interesting improvisation. (Hall portrays Thump Milton, a crime boss who is apparently willing to have someone murdered to enforce the "no snitching" rule.)
If you want to hear a lot of details about the production of Winter's Bone, listen to the feature-length audio commentary by director and co-writer Debra Granik and cinematographer Michael McDonough. They report it was a 25-day shoot and have a lot to say about the visual aspects of the film. For example, the grizzly pond scene, which has made some viewers think of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, was shot day for night. But Granik also talks about using locals as actors. The most remarkable case is that Ree's sister is played by a little girl who actually lives in one of the houses where the movie was shot.
Also on the DVD is a one-and-a-half-minute alternate opening and four deleted scenes with a total runtime of slightly over 10 minutes.
Release Date: October 26, 2010
Total Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Some Drug Material, Language and Violent Content