Amazon Holiday

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Winter's Bone


Q: What’s the movie about?

A: When a teenage girl (Jennifer Lawrence) finds out that her father gave their house up for bail money to get himself out of jail, she must track him down or prove that he's dead in order to save the house where she is the main caretaker for her 12-year-old brother and 7-year-old sister.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt, Lauren Sweetser, Isaiah Stone, Ashlee Thompson, Shelley Waggener, Tate Taylor, Sheryl Lee, Ronnie Hall, Kevin Breznahan,

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: PhotobucketProceed with Caution. It is very slow paced for a very long time before becoming a heart-wrenching thriller about a girl who will go to any length to protect her younger siblings.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I'm pretty sure that in the town where this takes place, you could get killed for laughing.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Mostly it'll make you thankful about all the wonderful things and people you have in your life, because if you can a afford a movie ticket, you're already about a thousand times more privileged than the white trash in this story.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It has already won prizes at Sundance and Berlin, so I'm sure the Independent Spirit Awards will follow.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: At the ripe old age of 18, Jennifer Lawrence carries the movie practically all by herself. And considering there are rarely enough great roles for women, in a year, to fill all 5 spots at the Academy Awards, I wouldn't be surprised if she pulls an Ellen Page.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Depressing, bleak, grim, meditative, cold, dank, and perfectly suited for this film... If you like that sort of thing.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The stakes are high for the main character and her family, and the drama is intense, but I'm still not sure why everybody has to be such an a-hole to this poor kid, who's been forced into premature adulthood. As dumb as they are, the townsfolk have to realize that whatever her father did to piss them off, it has nothing to do with her. She didn't ask to be his offspring. And the fact that she is doesn't make her a bad person. It makes her the victim.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/winters-bone/10024255/trailers

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4 comments:

ProMovieBlogger said...

I've been wanting to see this for sometime. All reports say its good.

Dani said...

I saw the trailer after reading your post. I want to see theis movie because I'm intrigued as to how it will turn out. Whether it will make me cry I don't know...probably!

Annette said...

I saw it last night, rented via iTunes. I had higher hopes, much higher, especially because of the Oscar nods.

Winter's Bone was nothing more than 100 minutes of a girl having a few tender moments with her siblings and the rest of the time is spent traipsing through the woods to various kin/neighbor's houses getting verbally and physically abused, and then she gets a bag o' hands and a sack o' money. The End.

You don't get any sense of how the people are related (except the uncle), or why they hate each other, or why/what happened to the father.

It felt a lot longer than 100 minutes, probably because I expected to have something significant revealed at some point and it never happened.

The directing conveyed the bleak, hillbilly noir-ness, so you definitely felt immersed in the location and culture.

The acting was solid and the characters are 100% believable within their world, but I didn't give a rat's ass about any of them, positive or negative, because they were completely undeveloped and one-dimensional. Uncle Teardrop was the only one who showed any arc/depth.

Overall, I wouldn't watch it again, nor would I recommend it to anyone.

I guess it's a good thing I'll probably never be an Academy member. LOL

I'm sure the book was much better.

Monique said...

You go annette! Its probably more effective on the big screen... scary. But I agree it feels long.