This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
09/07/2017 12:01 AMRated R
No picturesque rivers flow in Wind River, but instead, there are chilling expanses of snow that cloak a young woman’s rape and murder, and the harsh life on an Indian reservation in Wyoming. The river might be symbolic of the way one feels propelled along like a stick floating downriver, a part of the action, but helpless to change its course. Jeremy Renner (Arrival, The Avengers) leads a stellar supporting cast in a hard-boiled, dogged thriller, which stuns and captures the viewer. Although the focus stays with Renner as Cory Lambert, a hunter who helps the residents by killing the predators of their livestock, the real center remains the Native Americans, and the culture misunderstood by outsiders. Elizabeth Olsen (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Jane Banner, an F.B.I. agent investigating the rape and murder of a young woman—who ran barefoot for six miles in the snow before collapsing—provides the outsider’s perspective.
Director/writer Taylor Sheridan (Sicario), who was Oscar-nominated for his screenplay of Hell or High Water, tightly weaves a picture of how outsiders continue to cruelly treat a people already relegated to the confines, no matter how sprawling, of a land in which others might perish. Veteran actor Graham Greene (The Shack, TV’s Longmire) plays Ben, the local sheriff, a man resigned to not receiving adequate support for solving crimes within his community. Enter Jane, who learns quickly that she has much to learn. When she demands to speak to the victim’s mother, she discovers the woman slicing herself in grief. Jane knows enough to realize she will need Cory’s aid to uncover the truth of the murder.
At one point, Cory tells her, “You’re looking for the clues, but missing all the signs.”
Tantoo Cardinal (TV’s Longmire, Blackstone), who plays the mother, Alice Crowheart, is a renowned Canadian actress, who should have more screen time in Wind River, as should the other Native American actors. Apesanahkwat (TV’s Ray Donovan, Nightbeasts), who plays the victim’s father, Dan Crowheart, is especially powerful. Renner has the sense to support Dan’s grief, allowing Apesanahkwat to subtly shine in portraying his character’s desperation and anger. Cory has also lost a daughter, and both actors are perfectly cast to work together to hold the viewer in the intense moment. Dialogue here is sparse, but wrenching.
One striking transition from the present to the past occurs with a knock at a door. Jane is at the trailer of a suspect from an oil drilling site (the characters are interlopers in the locals’ lives), but time shifts and the door is opened in a flashback by the boyfriend of the victim, who later becomes a victim himself. Natalie, played by Kelsey Asbille (The Amazing Spider-Man, TV’s One Tree Hill) enters and the lovers’ demise begins. When the present returns, volatile mistrust leads to mayhem. Sheridan arranges events with expert timing and finesse to create one of the strongest segments of Wind River.
Searching for secrets in the frozen fields and mountains, Cory rides snow mobiles that scatter blinding snow, but the shots don’t seem repetitive. They are offset by the whispers of a poem, written by Cory’s deceased daughter. Accompanied by haunting music, the words reverberate in Wind River, a story ultimately about loss and grief, and choosing to endure. The film combines a riveting mystery with delving into the heart of an abandoned people. Wind River speaks especially to one woman’s triumph of perseverance, even in the throes of death.
Have you seen a movie recently that you’ve loved, or are you excited about one coming up? Send a short description of the movie and why you like it, to Pem McNerney at p.mcnerney@shorepublishing.com, along with a selfie of you at the movies. We’ll share it with our readers!