Winter's Bone

2010 "Talking just causes witnesses."
7.1| 1h41m| R| en
Details

After discovering her father put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared, 17-year-old Ree Dolly must confront the local criminal underworld and the harsh Ozark wilderness in order to to track down her father and save her family.

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Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Evan Wheatley Nominated for two Academy Awards and winner of the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Debra Granik's "Winter's Bone" ranks among the top films to come out of Sundance in recent years.Adapted from Daniel Woodrell's novel of the same name, the film follows 17-year-old Ree Dolly, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and her struggle to provide for her mentally ill mother and younger siblings in the fallout of her father's disappearance. Her father is out on bail following his arrest for manufacturing "crank" (methamphetamine), and is soon scheduled to appear in court. Ree is told that if he does not show up for his court date, her family will lose their home. Determined to ensure a hopeful future for her siblings, Ree sets out to find her father in a family- and drug-centered culture of southern Missouri.The film opens with a wide shot of the landscape. Rolling hills of green and grey overlook a valley of mobile homes and rusted vehicles, with a lone, naked tree resting in the foreground. An a cappella rendition of "The Missouri Waltz" is sung as Ashlee and Sonny Dolly play outside on their trampoline. Ree hangs laundry out to dry and repairs Ashlee's baby doll before calling her siblings to come inside. The sequence ends with the words, "Winter's Bone" superimposed on a silhouette of barren trees.Filmed entirely on location in Missouri's Christian and Taney Counties, the opening minute and a half of "Winter's Bone" captures the ruggedness of its setting. While not everyone who views the film will be familiar with Missouri's Ozark region, most southern viewers will recognize the rural and impoverished neighborhoods depicted and the hillbilly archetype of the film's characters. This is largely due to Granik's desire for an authentic setting.She and her crew ventured six times to southern Missouri during pre-production, taking notes and seeking out local guides for assistance. Three families in Forsyth, Missouri allowed Granik and her crew to use their homes as sets for the film, and very little was altered to the families' property during production.The people of Christian and Taney Counties were as vital to the film's authenticity as the location itself. Local residents such as William White, Ashlee Thompson and Isaiah Stone contributed their accents and knowledge of the culture to their roles of Blond Milton, Ashlee Dolly and Sonny Dolly respectively. Other Missouri natives added improvised dialogue for their characters, one being Ron "Stray Dog" Hall, who plays Thump Milton in the film.Granik also discovered and enlisted the talent of American folk singer and Missouri native, Marideth Sisco for the soundtrack of "Winter's Bone." A scene from the film's second act features Sisco and a group of musicians casually playing "High on a Mountain" as Ree arrives at April's house in search of her father. Four of Sisco's recordings are used in the film: "The Missouri Waltz," "High on a Mountain," "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies" and "Farther Along." Her raw; yet soothing vocal style plays an important role in bringing the rural Ozark culture to life on screen.The meth capital of the United States serves as the cultural backdrop for the narrative of "Winter's Bone." As depicted in the film, family ties and regional loyalties govern the more remote areas of southern Missouri. While Granik shows the impact that meth manufacturing has on a local community, she avoids depicting drug use in a negative or positive light in the film."He cooks crank," Ree says to her cousin Megan."They all do now. You don't need to say it out loud," Megan replies.The film's dialogue and character interactions reveal that the community's drug problem is acknowledged simply as the way things are. Ree's Uncle Teardrop casually snorts crystal meth in front of her twice in the film; the second time with a cigarette in his other hand. Her cousin Little Arthur asks Ree if she "want's a line" or if she would like to "blow some smoke" when she asks him about her father's whereabouts. When she refuses, he bangs his hands down on his coffee table and tells her that he has nothing else to offer. Even Ree herself, despite avoiding the use of crank, still understands that it is at the core of her family's identity and the society in which she was raised."I'm a Dolly, bread and butter," Ree says in the film.Granik seems to enjoy telling stories that use drug addiction as a key component. Her first feature film, "Down to the Bone," like "Winter's Bone," neutrally depicts drug use while showing the impact it has on a young woman's life. Both protagonists hit rock bottom in each film, but, like Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" franchise, persevere to overcome their respective struggles.In fact, Gary Ross, director of "The Hunger Games," was interested in Lawrence for the role of Katniss because of her breakout performance in "Winter's Bone." Fans of the young adult dystopian films will undoubtedly fall in love with Ree, as her characterization strongly resembles that of the girl on fire.The brilliance of "Winter's Bone" is found in its simplicity. Woodrell's novel told Granik and her team where to go and they went, crafting an authentic mise-en-scène for the film along the way. Within this setting, Granik tells the relatable story of a young woman who loves her family; who goes the distance to save her home. With another feature film in the works with "bone" in the title, we certainly haven't seen the last of Debra Granik. Her meticulous direction coupled with Lawrence's performance is where "Winter's Bone" shines.
SlyGuy21 If you're wondering what the first movie I gave this title to is, it's "Blue Velvet". I'm not a huge fan of Jennifer Lawrence. Every movie I've seen her in, I've hated. "American Hustle", "Silver Linings Playbook", and now this. While hate might be too strong of a word, because bored to death fits better. Plot summary: a cardboard cutout of Jennifer Lawrence tries to find out what happened to her dad (the redneck version of Walter White) while a bunch of white trash hillbillies get in her way. Lawrence has no personality, I don't see her as a strong female protagonist at all, she's no Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor. All the other characters are either total jerks, or don't help her, I hope that sounds interesting to you, because it doesn't change for 100 minutes. This'll more than likely be the last movie with Jennifer Lawrence in it I see. I have what's called a "Three Strike Rule", if I see three movies that I don't like from a director or actor as the main character, I essentially blacklist them and avoid all films involved with them like The Plague. The first director to strike out with me was David O. Russel, the second was JJ Abrams (not for three bad movies though, because "The Force Awakens" was one of the most insulting things I've ever seen). So I guess Jennifer Lawrence is the first actor/actress to get blacklisted by me. If you like this movie, or Jennifer Lawrence as an actress, that's fine, but she's not for me.
alexsantosedgar I sat down to watch this film not really sure what to expect. I am personally a big fan of Jennifer Lawrence and I understood from critics that Winters Bone put her on the map, in Hollywood and I wanted to see where her career took off. As the films opening scene came into focus, my eyes were greeted with a bleak, grey view of a mountainside. Very little grass, the skeletons of caravans that once were and rubbish scattered everywhere, filled my vision. Soft American country music accompany the mid shots establishing the setting of the movie, and immediately I understood that I was looking at a poor family that lived outside of normal civilisation who fended for themselves. Within minutes, Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) walked outside to hang the washing up and help, who I assumed where her siblings, fix some toys. I was instantaneously encaptured by this small glimpse at the other side of the world, the other side of society, that the brochures don't include, and I was shocked overall at how badly some people have it. It made me feel like a horrible person just watching them suffering and not offering help or means of help. This film was raw and despite the telling title, I couldn't get over the almost dystopian society I was watching, where everyone knows everyone, blood relations meant a lot, to a lot of people, and even the police of the town knew there were some that were above the law. I felt personally responsible for the safety of Ree and her family, not thinking that a 17 year old girl could carry such a weight on her shoulders, but so helpless to aid her as the film progressed. There are also several moments throughout the duration of the film that I found quite harrowing to witness, not thinking that anyone should have to be put through. The surroundings and the people seemed to work together to create, this almost black hole of despair and bone chilling cold that engulfed everything that moved throughout, and I felt everything that Ree felt, wincing as characters grabbed her throat, and threw hot liquid in her face. Although the age of Jennifer Lawrence's character was 17, she was forced to be an adult in her actions and priorities, but when something bad happened to her I felt that she was still a child, and that she was lost and needed guidance from an adult.Lawrence played Ree, to such a degree that I if I didn't know that she was an actress, I wouldn't personally have been able to determine her from someone who actually lived in Missouri in a similar predicament. The cinematography was very effective at creating a desolate landscape, where you couldn't really imagine anyone living there, and seeing what the characters were wearing, and the surroundings they were in, made me feel cold despite my jumper and tracksuit bottoms. I switched from where I was sitting on my sofa, and moved in front of the fireplace with a blanket drawn tightly around my body, up to my neck, believing that with these tools I could fight the overpowering chill that the movie's setting was giving me. Overall this film made me feel emotions raw, and in a way that I haven't felt from a film in a long time. I was enticed by Jennifer Lawrence's superb acting, and I felt that I was experiencing the same journey that she was. I hated the characters she hated, I loved the characters she loved, I felt that I could empathise with her character better than any other female character I have before in a movie. Everything, everywhere reminded me of hopelessness and there was a slight life draining effect that I felt taking me, near the end. From the dead leaves, crunching beneath her feet, to the grinding sound of boots on loose stones underfoot, all the noises including the squawking of birds instead of singing, added to the grey feeling and colour of Winters Bone.
mryama_9029 This is the first review I have ever written because i felt that i have to do that. Not much to say about this movie. I saw a good rating in IMDb so i've expected a good movie, "4 nominations for Oscars and first nomination for Lawrence, sounds good", but why? Why its heaven nominated for the Oscars? It lacks any meaningful plot and is painfully slow. Since there was no development in anyone you don't really care and don't really know what matters. No climax at all with the catch "i told you so". I find it difficult to say anything positive about this movie... OK i have something to justify my 3...the not so bad performance by J.Lawrence. To resume, just a waste of time in my opinion