I’m always flabbergasted when films depict kids playing the parent role, essentially taking care of their younger siblings. Usually, its in a street, urban setting, not in the backwoods where essentials such as a roof over your head, food on the table and chopped firewood. I was looking forward in seeing Debra Granik make her sophomore feature splash, and despite some reservations at first, Winter’s Bone should have been retitled Tough as Bones for the resilience, bravery and desperation of the young heroine in the white trash backdrop that seems inviting only when you don’t cross the lines.
I had thoughts of David Gordon Green’s George Washington, Michael Schorr’s Schultze Gets the Blues and last year’s Sundance entry White Lightnin’ – where setting is as much a character, as the film’s lead. Responsible for putting Farmiga on the map, Granik’s ode to Missouri’s backwood might just do the same for Jennifer Lawrence – I’ve identified the actress as someone to watch out for after seeing her in her breakout role from Guillermo Arriaga’s The Burning Plain. John Hawkes also stars.
