Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole Ashland
Markus Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Rated R for some drug material, language and violent content.
Life in an inbred town isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Sundance sensation, “Winter’s Bone” starring young newcomer Jennifer Lawrence, was undoubtedly the biggest movie to come out of the 2009-10 film festival scene with tons of critical praise behind it. And now, having picked up Oscar nominations for best actress, supporting actor and picture of the year, “Winter’s Bone” is definitely on every movie-lovers radar. But is the movie (now on DVD) really as good as the critics are making it out to be? Don’t take out the anointing oil just yet, this reviewer says.
Synopsis: A startling story depicting a 17 year old girl, named Ree (Lawrence), living in an impoverished Ozarks mountain community, trying to keep the bank from seizing her house after her drug addicted father has turned up missing. Ree acts as the main breadwinner in the household, taking care of her mentally ill mother as well as her two younger siblings. She is determined to find her father and save the house, but in order to do so she must question the feared leaders of this small mountain community (where everyone seems to be related).
This is the year of young female lead, first Emma Stone in “Easy A”, then Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit” and now Jennifer Lawrence, a virtual unknown, who carries “Winter’s Bone” for all of its 100 minute runtime. For an actress like this to appear out of nowhere and give an award worthy performance is nothing short of astounding. Too bad this may be the most competitive year for lead female performances to date or else Lawrence could have been a shoe-in to win an Academy Award for this riveting portrayal. But while her performance was great, this film, as a whole, leaves much to be desired.
Now my criticism of the rest of the film entitled “The Indie Hype Machine”: Just because this movie holds the title of being an independent film doesn’t automatically make it a great movie (ala “Greenburg”. Don’t worry this film is no where as bad as “Greenburg” was). Yes, there are a lot of great films that don’t have the financial backing of lets say “Inception” or “Social Network” and are equal to if not greater that any big budget film (Restrepo, Waiting for Superman), but “Winter’s Bone” is not one of those independent films. I’m glad Lawrence has been recognized for her gritty performance, but to be honest with you, the story wasn’t all that great. I understand that a lot of reviewers loved this film; their arguments being that the feel of the movie was so authentic that it enveloped the audience into the world of the Godfather-esque hierarchy of this tiny Ozark town. My rebuttal would be that, while the set design and the characters may be authentic in a way that is seldom seen in movies about this region, the story itself and the script are far to simplistic and undeveloped to hold the title as one of the best movies of the year. Let me reiterate again how great newcomer Jennifer Lawrence’s performance is in this film, BUT overall even though it may be worth RENTING (for her performance alone), “Winter’s Bone” is not worth all the hype it’s getting as an overall film.
Final Thought: Even though this film is very simplistic and, in my opinion, not Oscar worthy, it does show a part of American culture rarely seen and for that (and Jennifer Lawrence) this is a film worth RENTING. But after watching it for now a third time, I can’t help but ask myself that one question over and over again. Aside from the performance of Jennifer Lawrence, why is this film getting so much hype?!
Comments