I have a little tradition where every summer, preferably
during the hottest day of the year, I like to hunker down and watch movies that
take place in the dead of winter. And I’m not talking about Christmas movies or
movies where it just happens to be snowing, I’m talking about movies where the
snow and the bitter cold are integral to the mood or story. Ever since I
started this tradition about seven years ago, I’ve avoided the sweltering heat
by watching the likes of Fargo,
Snowpiercer, The Revenant, The Hateful Eight, The Grey, and even Frozen on the rare occasion that I’m not
in the mood for something violent and bleak. The fact that Wind River came out in the middle of August almost seems
serendipitous, so it seemed like a perfect movie to carry on this tradition.
Our story takes place on an impoverished Native American
reservation in the middle of Wyoming where a game hunter (Jeremy Renner) finds
the frozen, barefoot body of a young woman miles away from civilization and
offers to use his hunting and tracking skills to find the killer. The search is
ineffective. There are only about six cops within a fifty-mile radius, and when
they call the FBI for help, they only send a single rookie agent (Elizabeth
Olsen). She asks the hunter for help, who agrees because his daughter, a friend
of the victim, was killed in a similar fashion a year prior and he believes
assisting in the case will bring him closure.
This is the major directorial debut of Taylor Sheridan, the
screenwriter responsible for Sicario
and Hell or High Water, and if you’ve
seen either one of those movies, then you should know exactly what to expect; a
bleak, nasty procedural where an idealist’s beliefs are put through the wringer,
with a conclusion that is equal parts cathartic and draining. The challenge isn’t
so much about unraveling some elaborate mystery or tracking down a mastermind
serial killer, but rather the harsh landscape, the vast distance between the
small list of suspects, and the general apathy of the outside world. There’s a
heavy focus on the plight of Native Americans, especially those who are forced
to live on impoverished reservations, tying in nicely to the theme of how our
environment can shape our perception of the world. Sure, we’ve seen countless stories
about small town people whose dreams and ambitions are just too big for their
little community, but there’s being a big fish in a small pond, and then there’s
being born in the sad remains of society’s margins, trapped in a barren,
unforgiving landscape by a world that doesn’t care if you live or die.
I have to give kudos to the supporting cast for sporting a
wide array of Native American actors. While Renner and Olsen are fantastic,
with Olsen giving depth to an out of her league rookie and Renner giving his
career best performance, everyone pulls their weight. We’re are also stellar
performances from Graham Greene, Gil Birmingham, Kelsey Asbille and Martin
Sensmeier. Renner’s character can’t really know the true depths of what they
have to deal with, but he was married to one of them, is still respectful and
treats them with admiration, even if he’s keeping those close to him at arm’s
length. Sheridan had the struggles of Native Americans and the unfair way they’re
treated by the American government very much on his mind during the making of
this, and it shows. The last shot in particular is especially heart-wrenching.
But it’s not just the Natives who are suffering. The driving force that gets Jeremy Renner’s
character invested is the hopes of finding closure with the death of his
daughter. While Although he can never truly get all the answers we want, the
goal isn’t so much about finding answers as it is reconciling with the loss
itself. This is clearly a downer, with a modus operandi that basically boils
down to the “the world is a cold and unforgiving place, especially to the
disenfranchised and underprivileged, so the best you can do is harden yourself
enough to not let it destroy you and make the best of it”, and while it’s not
as punishingly bleak as Sicario or Hell or High Water, it’s still
appropriately brutal when it needs to be. It is balanced out with a few lighter
scenes when appropriate, just to give the film some levity. Hell, I’m convinced
the final scene was added just to prevent it from leaving the audience
suicidal.
Overall, Wind River
is a solid, well-crafted piece of nihilistic drama, but as that label suggests,
it’s something that you have to be in the right mood for. There are some flaws
that hold it back from greatness, specifically a few bits of clunky dialogue,
especially when Renner waxes poetic on the resilience of the Native people, and
some time jumps that aren’t handled well, but the grounded acting, solid direction
and gorgeous cinematography more than make up for its shortcomings.
7/10
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