Movie Review: Winter’s Bone (2010)

Winter’s Bone is about a 17-year-old girl who’s forced into being the sole provider for her two younger siblings and sick mother after her father gets sent to prison for cooking up crack. Then one day Johnny Law tells her that her dad’s out of prison, that he offered up their house as collateral for his bond money, and if he doesn’t show up for his court hearing, the state takes the house and leaves her family to live out in the woods to probably die. So our girl Ree sets out on foot to every last terrifying hillbilly she’s related to (and there’s a lot of ‘em) in the hopes to get some kind of answer as to where the hell  her dad is before time runs out.

Until last week or so, I’d heard absolutely nothing about this movie, no trailers, no articles, no nothing. Then I caught wind of some utterly glowing reviews that made me feel like a jackass for being so out of the loop and finding out that it won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance a mere four months after the fact. See, this is why some kind gent out there needs to start paying me to do this before I end up stuck in Killers for all I know. It’s just no good the way things are now.
So dry your tears if you haven’t heard of it, we all have those moments, but now that you know, get the hell out there and see this.
It’s written and directed by one Debra Granik – a woman I didn’t even know existed - and make no mistake, she is the bomb.
Being from the suburbs of New York, I can’t exactly claim to know a whole lot about living in the backwoods of the Ozarks, but apparently the sun never, ever comes out, all the trees are deader than dead and not a single resident has running water in their Shantyville showers. Granted, it is Winter, but, boy, it must totally suck to live there. But there’s a strange beauty about it, the way she embraces wide open spaces that complement the dead seriousness of the story’s tone and the way it effects the locals is ever-present and something else. This could have easily been the most grim and depressing movie setting next to the The Road, but it’s not, instead it’s authentic, fitting and mighty, mighty impressive. I like that.
Also love that Granik’s characters come off as street smart and intimidating rather than the 21st Century homicidal redneck cast of Deliverance. These folks may not have the best oral hygiene or find themselves featured on MTV Cribs any time soon, but these people – banjo parties and all - are no freakin’ joke and are shadier than you can possibly imagine.
In a nutshell, Granik has put together one seriously gritty movie and it doesn’t take long to start marveling at her keen eye for the stark and ear for the raw.
See, kids, this is how you write, this is the most refreshing damn script I’ve come across in ages. It’s such a simple plot, such a simple premise, the first half-hour is more or less comprised of our 17-year-old protagonist making home visits, and it is a thing of beauty. It’s just so uncommon to find a script anymore that feels like a throwback, where the characters don’t mince words and each sentence is packed with more meaning than most writers can get down in a fucking soliloquy, and that’s just one of the many reasons why it stands out. There is just so much power behind the dialogue and silence that even the scrawniest of individuals feel like they could feed you to the hogs without batting an eye, and even though I don’t know why Garnik is one of the minorities who can actually pull this off, she does so with ease and I’m applaud her for it.
But the real driving force behind it all is newcomer Jennifer Lawrence as our protagonist, Ree. I don’t know where this girl came from, but if she doesn’t get nominated for an Oscar this year, I will be pissed, I will be livid, I will boycott those damn awards and go to bed at a reasonable hour for once. An incredibly well-written character to begin with, Lawrence has more inherent maturity, gravitas and steadfast confidence going for her than most actors who have been in the game since she was born. I’ve never come across a girl like Ree before – which is unfortunate – and she is in all honesty right up there with Sarah Connor as one of the great badass movie heroines.
There’s also a great performance by John Hawkes as Ree’s uncle, Teardrop. Only seen him before in Deadwood, Eastbound and Down and You, Me and Everyone We Know, but the guy made quite an impression and it’s about time he landed a kickass role like this. Really good actor, really good character, and it’s about damn time people started recognizing him.
Man, I haven’t gushed over a recent movie like this in a while. I don’t know how many theaters out there are playing this at the moment, but after drudging through six long months of effing horrendous offerings from Hollywood, it is so damn good to remember what it’s like to go to a movie, love the said movie and not feel robbed of 12 hard-earned dollars. Winter’s Bone might not be your thing if you’re itching to make some feel-good memories, but it was right up my alley and I really hope it takes off. But even if it doesn’t, seek it out. The pickin’s are awful slim, gang.

Movie Review:-Everybody’s Fine

Movie Review:-Everybody’s Fine

Everybody’s Fine stars Robert De Niro as a retired gentleman in his 60’s who recently lost his wife. He is expecting his four adult children to spend the weekend at his house. He cuts his lawn, cleans the house, buys a new bbq to grill the big steaks he bought to go along with an expensive bottle of wine he purchased. Then he checks the answering machine – his two daughters have called to confirm that they and their two brothers were all too busy to go to his house that weekend. So Frank Goode, against the wishes of his doctor, sets out on a cross-country journey to visit his diverse and successful children and get the update as to what is going on in their lives.

He begins in New York, where David is an artist living in an apartment above the gallery that displays his art. Then there is the beautiful Amy (Kate Beckinsale), an advertising executive who lives in a beautiful house in a Chicago suburb with her husband and young son. Robert (Sam Rockwell) is a musician in an orchestra and lives in Denver. Finally, Frank makes his way to Las Vegas where Rosie (Drew Barrymore) is a professional dancer living in a beautiful apartment that overlooks Sin City.

As Frank’s journey unfolds, he learns more about his children and probably about himself. I get the feeling the kids learned a bit about their pops too. It is certainly an eye-opening and emotional experience for everyone involved.

That is the basic story of Everybody’s Fine. I have to say the first 45 minutes of the movie moved at a slow pace and I was really wondering where this film was going. I didn’t know much about the story and the trailer seemed to indicate that it was going to be a comedy. Based on some of De Niro’s past endeavors – the Focker movies, Analyze This and That, Showtime, Stardust – that is what I was expecting. However, Everybody’s Fine ended up being a rather serious and heartfelt tearjerker. I felt quite emotional at the end of the movie

as De Niro’s character tried to connect with his children and showed them that the old man had a thing or two up his sleeve. I absolutely loved the last 30 minutes. His analysis of each of his children kind of came out of left field. It was a very heart-warming moment.

With that being said, I am pretty sure that Everybody’s Fine is not a movie everyone will enjoy. The “New Moon” crowd and the “Ninja Assassin” group are sure to see it as nothing more than an excessively sentimental melodrama. For me, I really liked how the family and family values came to a head at the end of the movie. I liked how Frank Goode accepted his children despite any shortcomings he might have discovered. This movie made me smile despite the fact that it had no humans falling in love with vampires and then cheating on them with werewolves. Maybe it would have been nice if there were a ninja or two. Nevertheless, it was a nice change for De Niro to play what I thought was a pretty suitable and subtle role for him. Like everybody in the movie, my summary of this movie is it’s just fine. (8 out of 10)