Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Winter's Bone

Tonight my friend Judy and I went to the local art venue to see Winter's Bone, a movie set in the Ozarks and adapted from Daniel Woodrell's novel by the same name. He has coined the phrase "country noir" to describe his rather dark crime novels set in the south.

It was riveting, and if you get a chance to see it and can handle some pretty strong stuff, the performance by Jennifer Lawrence is simply amazing. She plays Ree Dolly, a 17-year-old who is raising her two younger siblings and caring for her mentally absent mother. You find out that her father is a meth dealer and has put up their house as collateral to bail himself out of jail. He disappears soon after, and she needs to find him or all of them will be thrown out. I found that Rotten Tomatoes (my favorite place to find reviews) gives it a 95% freshness rating. (The link takes you to the review page.) A review by Michael Smith in World Scene sums it up well:
The character that Lawrence creates, fearless and full of moxie, is nothing less than a heroine. Some people live in the middle of nowhere to do things they don't want people to see; reports of rural crime and meth labs fill newspaper pages. But the real stories are those like Ree's, of a selfless young woman fighting for nothing less than the survival of herself and three other family members who may or may not break free of the area's cycle of drugs and violence.
I was fascinated by the actress playing Ree and found that she just had her twentieth birthday and has starred in several other parts already. I found a really good interview with her on Black Book, with a title I couldn't resist: Jennifer Lawrence dishes on 'Winter's Bone' and stripping for Esquire. The film won the Grand Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and when she was asked (in the article) how she felt when she heard about the win, she said,
I just started bawling. I had such an ‘actress’ moment. I was there for the premiere of the movie, but then I went home. My mom was looking at it online, and then I started hearing Parker Posey describing the movie, and I just bawled. And then Lauren Sweetser, who plays Gail in the movie—we became real-life best friends on the set and have been ever since—we called each other and just started screaming.
She also said one of the reasons she had a racy photo shoot with Esquire is that she doesn't want to get typecast as the girl from "Winter's Bone." She wants to actually wear makeup in a movie and show that she can also portray a sexy woman. And from this picture, I'd say she should have no problem doing that.

If you get a chance to see the movie, it's worth it, although country noir is not easy fare, by any means. It is not my favorite genre. However, I got to experience this life and forgot I was even watching a movie, I was so engrossed. I'd also be interested to know what you thought of it.
:-)

17 comments:

  1. This is one I haven't heard about before now but after reading your review I will check it out. Thanks for sharing DJan.

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  2. This film sounds too depressing for me. I prefer romantic comedies.

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  3. I will have to look for this movie. I have not heard of it, either. It sounds like a movie I would like, but may be hard to watch at the same time. I cry very easily, especially when it comes to children hurting, struggling, or being abused.
    Thanks for the review.

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  4. had not heard of this one before...putting it on the list to see though...country noir...huh...

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  5. Country noir..no probably not until it comes on TV..but I tend to watch only happy feel good movies..crime and mayhem ..not so much:)

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  6. After watching The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the foreign version with subtitles, I think I can sit through another "dark" movie. I will look for it.

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  7. I feel like I need to sign up for Netflix to start catching up on all of your movies! Of course, where I'd find the time to actually watch them is a different story...

    I've never heard of the movie or of this actress, but she's quite pretty. Add that to an actual acting ability and I'm sure we'll see more of her.

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  8. This looks wonderful. I am always looking for a good movie (and a good movie review...) and this fits the bill. I like independent movies, they're always the best.

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  9. I tend to wait til I can watch movies at home, where I can pause, go potty, refill my wine glass etc. lol

    Quick note to invite you to hop over to my blog where I'll ad updates regarding Jan at Animal Talk, my SIL so you can keep informed on her condition post surgery.
    Sandy

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  10. We have Netflix, my queue is incredibly long. We have so little time to sit and watch and so many new films sound interesting... and on top of that, there are films from the past that I want to see again. So many films, so little time.

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  11. Umm will look for a copy soon. Sounds interesting DJ. Last weekend I watched V for Vendetta it was nice and watched it twice LOL!.

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  12. Thanks for the tip to watch this movie, it flew under my radar. I value rotten tomatoes ratings above most others, and I love the quiet, powerful movies like this one looks to be.

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  13. Sounds like an intriquing movie, I shall be on the look-out for it.
    Thank you for the review !

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  14. I really do have to be in the right mood and place to watch a dark art film. And yet when I do I take so much more from them than my usual romantic comedy fare.

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  15. We have this in our Netflix queue and now I look forward to seeing it even more. Thanks for the info.

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  16. I haven't heard of this film yet. We are sometimes six months behind you with our films, being Region 2. With others, we are six months ahead so I'll watch out for it. Thanks for the excellent plug. It's always good to get someone else's perspective.
    Blessings, Star

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  17. I read some pretty raving reviews about this one when it hit Sundance... I'm just hoping it will make it across the Atlantic!

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