MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Winter' s Bone Rated R

On DVD, Blu-Ray Disc and Video on Demand

Directed by Debra Granik.  Starring Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes.

Photo © 2011 Roadside Attractions
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

 No one can choose their family, and many have the odds stacked against them from the get go.

Ree (Lawrence) is a 17-year-old girl who’s had to grow up way too fast in the Ozark hills of Missouri.  In a land that’s riddled with poverty and despair, her father has turned to the production of methamphetamines to make a living.  You might even say that drugs have become the family business. 

Ree’s mother is a burned-out shell of a woman, so it is Ree’s responsibility to take care of her two younger siblings. 

After a recent arrest, Ree’s father has disappeared.  Since he has put up the family house as bond, if he is not found, the homestead will be gone.

Ree begins a quest to find her father and discovers resistance and danger at every turn, mostly from her kinfolk. 

In many ways Winter’s Bone resembles a film noir, in which the leading character discovers a moral universe that is dark and corrupted.  What sets this film apart, however, is the moral character of its heroine. 

Ree is strong-willed and resourceful, and it is her love of the two children (and one assumes that possibility that she can raise them and free them from the sins of the father) that keeps her on her journey.

Actress Lawrence learned how to chop wood and skin animals in preparation for this role, and she is supported by some of the best character actors working today, with residents of the region playing small roles. 

The film is shot on location and based on a book by Daniel Woodrell, whose novels all take place in this impoverished culture.

Winter’s Bone is wise in not judging its characters; the outcome of their desperate choices is painful enough. 

This was one of last year’s best films (and was considered by some critics as the best film of 2010). 

If you can handle a bit of swearing, Winter’s Bone is a movie that works well as entertainment, social commentary, and ethical discourse. 



Pitchfork/Halo Ratings:
Three halos.
A moving drama about the family ties that bind and one young girl’s quest to do the right thing

Two pitchforks.
Pervasive swearing, some acts of violence, drug production and addiction

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