Winter's Bone

There's darkness, and then there's bleakness, and this movie has got plenty of both. This is a very absorbing story. There is no question that the performances and the realization of the story are both brilliant. It is enormously effective in creating a tone of dreary hopelessness. There is an impending sense of dread about the movie. So, it is very involving. At the same time, the sum does not quite equal its parts for me. I always felt concern for the characters, but they still seemed distant to me. Even though the protagonist (Ree) is dealing with life altering situations, somehow the movie maintained an air of a horror film, even though it is not a horror film. So, even though the story is very human, the story still seems distant. I cared about the characters, but in a very different way then usual. The care I have is best channeled through the children in the film. It is almost as though there is a doorway that Ree has passed through and the children haven't, and the innocence the children enjoy on their side of the door gives us hope. Meanwhile, Ree's insistence that the children stay innocent and protected make her heroic.

The story follows Ree, a 17 year old who has come to be all but the mother of her younger brother and sister. Her mother is mentally ill and out of commission, and her father has left them. He used his property to acquire a bail bond, so the family is now in danger of losing their home. Ree begins trying to find her father, but the more she looks. the more the local hierarchy of underworld drug lords begins pushing back. In the end, she is forced to continue her search simply in order to survive and take care of her siblings.

Jennifer Lawerence is so convincing in her role. This is a movie that easily could have descended into stereotypes, but it does not. Instead, it shows these people for who they are, warts and all. And yet I still can say I felt a certain disconnect in the movie. This movie takes place in my home country, yet it couldn't feel more foreign in many ways. Perhaps that is the power of the film. Even though I felt distance, I still appreciated the eventual hope that comes in the film. Again, I can appreciate the innocence of the little children in the film, as they play in the back yard, unaware of the nightmarish reality around them. That's quite a tribute to what makes this movie special.