New Film Review: Wind River

WIND RIVER


Directed by Taylor Sheridan
Screenplay by Taylor Sheridan
Starring Jeremy Renner; Elizabeth Olsen; and Graham Greene





While tracking wolves, a tracker/hunter named Cory Lambert (Renner) stumbles on the body of a young girl on an Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Thus begins a mystery in which Cory helps FBI investigator Jane Banner (Olsen) find the killer.

Cold!! Wyoming looks cold. The film feels cold. The story is cold. Cold is how I would explain this film. Yet it is a really good film. Wind River reminds you of a slow burning Silence Of The Lambs, or maybe it is more like the Jennifer Lawrence film from 2010 Winter Bone. Whatever you want to compare it to ...it just works, and I think it is because of the acting and the cold haunting snowy landscape.
Positives:
Jeremy Renner is just fantastic here as Cory Lambert. We find he has his own demons of guilt and loss he is dealing with and that this mystery ...may help him move on. He says so much here with a look or stare. He is dealing with an agent who has no sense of life on the reservation, he could be an ass to her...but he is quietly kind. Which is nice to see, it goes up against your typical screenplay with the angry towns people who give the newbie a hard time. he has kind eyes or even caring eyes. He plays this character spot on.
Graham Greene as Ben the officer or chief in town. I mean has Greene ever given a bad performance? Here, like Cory, he gives into kindness when dealing with the outsider, instead of anger. Which makes Greene perfect for the part. He always has a way of taking a small character and making him memorable...he does this here.

Yes there are negatives:

-Elizabeth Olsen. No. I am not saying she is bad here. In fact she is really good here, However we really do not find out much about her. Yes, I understand, the film is really about Cory and his life moving on; and catching of the killer, however the lead to catch the killer is Jane Banner and we know nothing about her. It is just odd.
-The ending was a bit ...well....cold. Yes maybe the ending was not about the catching of a killer....maybe it was a strange redemption for Cory and the sadness of the many girls gone missing on these Reservations. Still I wanted to see maybe 10 minutes more at the end to see where characters go from here.

Still do not let the small negatives turn you off, this is one of the better movies of the year.  4 out of 5 stars for Wind River...find it and see it.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.