Winter’s Bone was my introduction to an up-and-coming actress: Jennifer Lawrence. She had made some token appearances in films before this, but Winter’s Bone was the movie that made audiences stand up and take notice of her. Years before The Hunger Games and X-Men made her a pop-culture figure, she was impressing filmgoers with this poignant and powerful drama. She would go on to make many more films showcasing her range from Silver Linings Playbook to Joy. In more recent years, she has pushed the envelope, turning an unfortunate incident where her phone was hacked and illicit photos were leaked online, and using that to give herself more freedom to express her sexuality on screen. Hence, we got the sexually daring, yet well written, Red Sparrow followed a few years later with the raunchy comedy No Hard Feelings, a film that has one of the more memorable midnight ocean swim scenes ever put on film. But before all of that, she was still a relative unknown in 2010, cast in an adaptation of the Daniel Woodrell novel, Winter’s Bone.
When this film was first coming out, there was a lot of chatter in the movie zines about Lawrence. There was talk about this newcomer who was going to take the Oscars by storm well before any nominations were ever announced. I had some lofty expectations based on that. Going into it, that was really the only thing I knew about it, and if you are watching it for the first time, do yourself a favor and avoid trailers, avoid spoilers, and do not read the paragraphs here that break down the basics of the plot. That being said, let’s get into the 2010 Best Picture nominated Winter’s Bone.
The setting is rural Missouri, in the Ozarks. Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) is seventeen, lives with her mentally ill mother, Connie, twelve-year-old brother Sonny, and six-year-old sister Ashlee. Their father has disappeared, apparently skipping town on his bail after an arrest for manufacturing Meth, though Ree insists he would never run out on them. Things get desperate for the young woman when the sheriff stops by to inform her that her father put up the home as collateral on his bond. Skipping town means that they will take possession of the house and land should he fail to appear for his court date. In desperation, Ree sets out to find him.
This takes her from family member to family member, each more distant from the last, trying to find anyone who can lead her to him. Eventually, she tries to talk to a local crime boss, but he refuses to see her. Instead, she is warned to leave the situation alone. Others try to convince her that her father died in a Meth lab fire, though she quickly figures out that that story is false. She also dismisses the notion that he ran out on the bail, insisting that no one in her family would do such a thing. But time is running out, and, believing her father to be dead, she must find proof that will prevent the state from seizing the land and turning her and her family out on the streets. The search for that proof takes her to some very dark places where blood relations mean little, and everyone seems to know more than they are willing to say.
Jennifer, at such a young age, knew how to project desperation. We can see it throughout the picture as she first turns to family to help provide hay for her horse and then as she risks her own safety to confront those who are related to her, if somewhat distantly, but refuse to tell her any useful information. At one point, she even approaches a military recruitment center, wanting to take them up on an advertisement offering a significant cash advance for recruits. This goes nowhere when she discovers that she not only has to have a parent’s permission because she is underage, but she wouldn’t see any of the sign-on bonus until well after the money has to be paid to the bondsman.
Her prying into her father’s disappearance also brings on the wrath of some of the members of the family, primarily the women, who physically assault her in an attempt to get her to break off the search. This begs the question, what did he do that so many people were involved in his disappearance and won’t do anything to help one of their own? The answers, when they finally come, are satisfying as well as disturbing. Likewise, the film’s resolution is both gruesome and revealing.
This is a film that revels in atmosphere. Watching it transports you to the Ozarks, an area of the country that is beautiful to look at but also masks a lot of poverty and crime. This is a unique area of the United States, and you can feel that when watching this film. This was filmed on location in Missouri, which adds to the authenticity. That, coupled with genuine Missouri bluegrass music, lends this film an atmosphere that those of us who have visited this part of the country will instantly recognize. The beautiful countryside is juxtaposed with grey skies and a chill in the air that is practically palpable through the screen.
Winter’s Bone came up empty when the Academy Awards rolled around in the spring of 2011. It was nominated in four of the major categories, but it was sparring in a very competitive year where such amazing films like Inception, 127 Hours, True Grit, and Black Swan all had their hands out, too. Even The King’s Speech, which most people look back on as forgettable, had its hand in the pie, and ultimately Winter’s Bone came up empty-handed.
But that’s not to say it was not worthy of being at that table. It made a lot of critics’ Best Films of 2010 list, including myself, and while I hadn’t revisited it since it was new, I remembered all the major beats, which is more than I could say for many of the other films on the Best Picture Nomination list from this year. It impressed me in 2011, and it still impresses me to this day, not only as a showcase for a rising, talented young woman but also because it is such a compelling story with an ending I hadn’t been able to predict. This is a special picture that does just about everything right; it just got swallowed up in a sea of other great films that eclipsed it come Oscar season.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence
Best Supporting Actor: John Hawkes
Best Adapted Screenplay: Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini
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Release Date: June 11, 2010
Running Time: 100 minutes
Rated R
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey, Garrett Dillahunt, Sheryl Lee, and Tate Taylor
Directed by: Debra Granik
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