Before she became Katniss and Raven/Mystique Jennifer Lawrence made this quiet, little film in SW Missouri. She was given a Best Actress Oscar nod in 2010 for this role but I always avoided watching the movie because it's just like seeing an O’Neill play. All you want to do afterward is cut your throat.
"Winter's Bone" is set near and around the community of Forsyth, not too far from my hometown, and an area I know well from hunting and camping trips. It's a hardscrabble life: any arable land is prone to flooding and the hills give up little more than lumber. (One of my favorite Ozarkian sayings, "That land's so poor you couldn't raise a fight on it with a bottle of whiskey.)
Ms. Lawrence’s Ree is a 17-year-old girl taking care of her mentally disturbed mother and raising her young brother and sister. Her dad uses their home and 10 acres of hardwood trees to post bond on a meth cooking bust. He takes off and Ree sets out to bring him back in time for his court date.
Her journey is epic, maddening, depressing and hard fought. The story is well told and beautifully filmed. There’s lots of very good local talent on display with rock solid supporting roles from John Hawkes and Garret Dillahunt. I’m sorry I avoided this movie for so long. I still want to cut my throat but it’s so well done – certainly one of the ten best films I’ve seen in the past few years.
Fnord
"Winter's Bone" is set near and around the community of Forsyth, not too far from my hometown, and an area I know well from hunting and camping trips. It's a hardscrabble life: any arable land is prone to flooding and the hills give up little more than lumber. (One of my favorite Ozarkian sayings, "That land's so poor you couldn't raise a fight on it with a bottle of whiskey.)
Ms. Lawrence’s Ree is a 17-year-old girl taking care of her mentally disturbed mother and raising her young brother and sister. Her dad uses their home and 10 acres of hardwood trees to post bond on a meth cooking bust. He takes off and Ree sets out to bring him back in time for his court date.
Her journey is epic, maddening, depressing and hard fought. The story is well told and beautifully filmed. There’s lots of very good local talent on display with rock solid supporting roles from John Hawkes and Garret Dillahunt. I’m sorry I avoided this movie for so long. I still want to cut my throat but it’s so well done – certainly one of the ten best films I’ve seen in the past few years.
Fnord