Film noir is one of my favorite cinematic genres. They were popular in the 40s, where the mols had long hair and the heroes were smart aleck, worldly types. When I heard that there was a contemporary film noir released on DVD, it was a must see. The film is called “Winter’s Bone”, and although most of the film’s accolades regard the breakout performance of the young lead, Jennifer Lawrence, I find that it is the film’s plot that kept my attention from start to finish.
Basically, this film is about a 17-year old girl who lives somewhere on a huge plot of land (love the fact that they never say where) with a dilapidated house, a mentally ill mother, and her much younger sister and brother. Her father is a meth dealer (updating the genre, I think), and is On the Run from the Law. He’s got a court date, and if he doesn’t show up they lose the house and the land, which were put up to the bondsman for collateral. To save the house, she has to find her father.
While I’m not exactly sure that I could call this a “breakout” performance (I hate that term, actually) I will say that Ms. Lawrence seems to be extremely talented. This isn’t an easy part to play by any means. She looks very munch like a young Renee Zellweger. As a matter of fact, she kept reminding me of Renee in “Cold Mountain”, and we all know how that one turned out. She has a plain, matter-of-fact delivery that is indicative of her character’s surroundings and her life.
Most of the films that I’ve seen lately have required more than one sitting to finish. I simply don’t have the attention or the time right now to watch a movie straight through. This one proved to be the exception. Each time I thought I would turn the film off and walk away, I gave myself the “five more minutes” routine. I actually found myself caring what happened to this family and especially to this young girl. What happened to her dad and how does she find her way out, if she does at all?
The film even has a certain feel – a grittiness to it, if you will. It’s similar to how I feel watching a Coen Brothers film. You may not be able to grasp everything that’s going on, but you have faith enough in the story that everything will be resolved in the end. And it is, in true noir fashion.
When I first saw the trailer for this film, I thought that I would heavily dislike it, or I might not even bother with it. It looked dark, depressing, and boring. I had heard it compared on some levels to last year’s disappointing “Frozen River”. I’m very glad I gave it a chance. If you can get your hands on it, you should as well.
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