Winter's Bone (2010) - Lawrence stands out in Granik's melancholic adaptation

♥♥♥♥

 

Jennifer Lawrence hovers like an eagle on the poster for Debra Granik's Winter's Bone

A 17 year-old girl, who is caring for her two younger siblings and sick mother, gets a big problem on her hands, when her alienated father doesn't appear in court. To keep their house, she now has to find out what has become of him.

Winter's Bone is an adaptation of Daniel Woodrell's (The Ones You Do (1992)) same-titled 2006 novel, written by Anne Rosellini (My Abandonment (2017)) and co-writer-director Debra Granik (Down to the Bone (2004)). It's a film filled with tristesse, unusual as the piece of outskirts social-realism Americana that it is, taking place in the rural Ozarks, Missouri in central USA, where even food can be a luxury.
Jennifer Lawrence (The Devil You Know (2013)) is a cool heroine as Ree, - likely a performance that locked her for her subsequent Hunger Games (2012; 2013; 2014; 2015) mass-stardom. Winter's Bone is a nuanced, fine and only slightly dreary film.

 

Jennifer Lawrence gives an interview to the BBC about the film in this video

 

Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: 13.7 mil. $

= Huge hit

[Winter's Bone premiered January 21 (Sundance) and runs 100 minutes. Filming took place on location in Missouri in just 25 days from February - March 2009. The film opened #35 to 84k $ in 4 theaters, peaking at #16 and 141 theaters (different weekends though), playing for an unusually long 45 weeks in North America, where it grossed 6.5 mil. $ (47.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Sweden with 1.3 mil. $ (9.5 %) and the UK with 0.9 mil. $ (6.6 %). Roger Ebert gave the film 4/4 stars, two notches better than this review. The film got nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: Best Picture (lost to The King's Speech), Actress (Lawrence), lost to Natalie Portman for Black Swan, Supporting Actor (John Hawkes), lost to Christian Bale for The Fighter, and Adapted Screenplay, lost to The Social Network. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won AFI's Movie of the Year award, won 2 Independent Spirit Awards and was nominated for another 5, was chosen by National Board of Review as one of the year's ten best films, won the Grand Jury Prize and the screenwriting award in Sundance, as well as many many other nominations, awards and top 10 listings. Winter's Bone is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Winter's Bone?