Starring
Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene, Jon Bernthal, Gil
Birmingham, Kelsey Chow, Julia Jones. Directed by Taylor Sheridan.
(2017, 107 min).
Dealing
with the loss of a loved one is always tough. Suffering the loss of a child irreversibly
changes you for the rest of your life. There's no getting over it,
nothing that erases the pain. All you can do is try your best to live
with that permanent hole in your life without letting grief
completely consume you (I'm pretty damn certain I couldn't do it).
Not
the most uplifting theme for a film, and Wind River doesn't
sugarcoat it. Nor does Fish & Wildlife agent Cory Lambert (Jeremy
Renner) when talking with his best friend, Martin, whose teenage
daughter, Natalie, was just found raped and murdered in the icy hills
of the Wind River Indian Reservation. Cory should know; his own
daughter died in those same hills a few years earlier under similarly
mysterious circumstances. It's also suggested her death was the catalyst that eventually ended his marriage.
 |
| "No, man...I don't think Kiss is looking for a new drummer." |
Newbie
FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olson) arrives to investigate and asks Lambert to help out due to his tracking skills. Lambert agrees, perhaps thinking, since he couldn't save his own child, doing so might bring some semblance of closure to his own pain (though his ex-wife thinks otherwise). At first,
Natalie's older boyfriend is a suspect, at least until they find his
frozen body, beaten to death.
On the surface, Wind River
is a simple, atmospheric mystery - the Wyoming mountains practically
a character themselves - methodical and deliberately paced. The film
takes its time establishing the setting and characters before peeling
the plot layers away, including a disturbing flashback of the
crime itself.
 |
| "I've been tracking that cow for days. I ain't about to give up now." |
Wind
River is unremittingly bleak almost from the get-go. Given its
story and theme, it would be an insult for the film not to be.
Renner turns in a terrifically understated performance that conveys
his character's quiet desperation, while Graham Greene, as the
cynical tribal sheriff, is as close as things come to any kind of
levity. Behind the camera, director Taylor Sheridan (who also penned
Sicario & Hell or High Water) shows he's more than just a gifted
screenwriter. Nearly every shot conveys the somber mood of the entire
film.
Ultimately about the devastation of losing a
child, Wind River offers no real comfort because, in reality, there isn't any. This isn't what you'd call a
good time at the movies. Some of this is really tough going and,
despite a satisfying (and bloody) conclusion, never lets the viewer
off the hook with a hunky-dory coda. By the time the end credits
roll, the viewer is as emotionally exhausted as the main character.
By the way...remind me never to visit Wyoming.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
FEATURETTE:
Behind-the-Scenes Video Gallery
DELETED
SCENES
DIGITAL
COPY
KITTY CONSENSUS:
VERY WELL MADE...BUT PRETTY BLEAK
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