Winter's Bone (2010)
I have been a pretty big fan of Jennifer Lawrence over her career yet I never actually sat down to watch her breakthrough performance in this film. This put her name on the map and set her up for a career that already has led to not only huge success at the box office and in various franchises but even an Academy Award. Lawrence plays a young woman named Ree Dolly who is tasked after looking over her young siblings as the father is jailed due to his encounters with making meth and her mother lacks the skill to care for anyone anymore. It's rough and Ree Dolly has had to give up on her dreams of joining the military but she is making it work is the head of the family. Everything starts crumbling around her though when it turns out as part of his bond her father included the house and property that they live on. If he does not turn up for his court date they will lose everything. With no other options she sets out to find her father but everyone is against her with secrets to hide and violent means to keep her prying eyes away.
Getting the main news story from this movie out of the way yes, Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic in this movie. This is a brutal role that demands her to hang between being a powerful woman looking out for her family to also someone who is weak in the big world, she has so much at stake and gets way in over her head yet she has no choice. Where I wouldn't say her performance is as standout as someone like Hailee Steinfeld from True Grit that came out in the same year but she still is damn impressive. Overall though even past Lawrence where no one is quite as impressive or memorable as her everyone does a great job in the roles that they are given, they have to be violent and intimidating while also feeling natural and not as if they are trying so hard. Everyone does a good job at this with Dale Dickey probably being the biggest standout. This impressive acting is also a piece of the puzzle that is the atmosphere and tension that this movie builds. There is a constant sense of uneasiness and tension in this film that keeps you on the edge of your seat. There is a constant threat that you can feel that as it always feels like something is terribly wrong. Where this tone is pretty uninviting it is extremely effective for what they are going for and ended up being one of my biggest pluses of the entire film.
Though beyond that I found that this movie was missing something for me. First, just from a mystery standpoint, this movie failed to give me enough to really engage with. The best mysteries are the ones that the audience can think about and form their own theories about. With mysteries like the one in this film, it is never able to connect like that due to the audience not having a real understanding of the world it takes place in or the people that you could form theories about. We never get to know the situation enough to be able to think for our own and are constantly stuck with the logic and thinking from our lead character. This doesn't ruin the plot or anything but it does create a bit of a disconnect this movie was never able to really fix. I also found that the film felt a bit slow at times. Sure this is a slow burn by design but not being able to engage with the mystery how it feels as they want us too there are times where it loses the audience and felt a bit stale. It felt like I was waiting for the movie to get to the point and find its narrative and even once we get there I can't quite say it fully felt like the long build was necessarily worth it.
Overall I will still say that Winter's Bone is a masterclass when it comes to building tension and creating a world filled with fear. It has strong performances and is an interesting environment to explore and play in. Yet in the end, the story is just not there for me to call this all around a true masterpiece. If you're really like slow burns and really get into this world then I can see you love this film. But for me personally past the tone and atmosphere there just wasn't enough here to really hit me as one of the Best of the Decade.
Overall I will still say that Winter's Bone is a masterclass when it comes to building tension and creating a world filled with fear. It has strong performances and is an interesting environment to explore and play in. Yet in the end, the story is just not there for me to call this all around a true masterpiece. If you're really like slow burns and really get into this world then I can see you love this film. But for me personally past the tone and atmosphere there just wasn't enough here to really hit me as one of the Best of the Decade.