Winter's Bone

Theatrical release poster

Directed by Debra Granik

Produced by Anne RoselliniAlix Madigan

Written by Debra GranikAnne Rosellini

Based on The novel byDaniel Woodrell

Starring Jennifer LawrenceJohn HawkesLauren SweetserGarret DillahuntDale DickeyShelley Waggener

Music by Dickon Hinchliffe

Cinematography Michael McDonough

Editing by Affonso Gonçalves

Release date(s) January 21, 2010 (Sundance)

June 11, 2010 (United States)

Running time 100 minutes

Winter's BoneFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Winter's Bone is a 2010 American independent dramafilm, an adaptation of Daniel Woodrell's 2006 novel of thesame name. The film was written and directed by DebraGranik, and stars Jennifer Lawrence. It explores theinterrelated themes of close and distant family ties, thepower and speed of gossip, patriarchy, self-sufficiency, andrural poverty in the Ozarks as they are impacted by thepervasive underworld of illegal methamphetamine labs. Thefilm won a number of awards, including the Grand JuryPrize: Dramatic Film at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Itreceived four 2011 Academy Award nominations: BestPicture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and BestSupporting Actor.

Contents1 Plot2 Cast3 Production4 Response

4.1 Critics4.2 Audience4.3 Awards

5 References6 External links

PlotRee Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence), 17, looks after her catatonicmother; her brother, Sonny (12); and her sister, Ashlee (6).Every day, she makes sure they are fed, dressed, and boundfor school, whilst teaching them basic survival skills (e.g.hunting and cooking.) The family is very poor - as anincident where the family dog is fed with stale fooddemonstrates (one of several incidents where someone isthrown a "bone"). Her father, Jessup, a meth-cooker, hasn'tbeen home for a long time and his whereabouts areunknown.

The local sheriff shows up and tells Ree that Jessup is due to

Country United States

Language English

Budget $2 million

Gross revenue $12,466,317 [1]

be in court in a week and cannot be found; because herfather has put their house and property up as collateral forhis bail, if he doesn't show up for his trial, they will lose it all.Ree goes to her best friend Gail, whom she has not seen in awhile, to convince her husband to lend them his truck astransportation; however, he refuses. Determined to find herfather dead or alive, Ree travels by foot to her father'sdistant relatives and associates, including her father's brother Teardrop (John Hawkes), an old friend of her father'snamed Little Arthur, and the region's patriarch, Thump Milton (Ronnie Hall). She has small successes with thewomen but catastrophic defeats with the men - everywhere she goes the ultimate message is the same: stay out of itor get hurt. Even her father's brother Teardrop grabs her by the throat to tell her to not poke around, and she iswarned to never return after Thump refuses to see her.

Desperate, Ree pushes on, including seeing through an attempt to make her believe her father was killed at a blownup meth lab, teaching her siblings how to shoot and skin squirrels, and visiting the home of a woman who recountsthat her father was hanging out with three unknown associates. When a bailbondsman visits to inform Ree that in aweek she will lose the house, she once again tries to speak to Thump Milton. Because in a previous visit she hadbeen warned not to return, Ree is brutally beaten by three women of the clan. Upon returning to consciousness, it isrevealed to Ree they have already discussed killing her but are unsure of what to do with her. When Thump and therest of the clan show up, Ree remains defiant but pleads her case: she is responsible for her sick mother and 2young siblings, and if her father is not found dead or alive, the bond will be forfeited, and her family will be forced"out into the fields like dogs." Luckily, just then, Teardrop shows up to rescue her; he confronts Thump and the restof the Milton clan, and assures them that he means them no harm and will take responsibility for his niece and anyfurther actions by her. Thump is satisfied that Teardrop will not cause any problems and that he understands thatwhatever happened between the Milton clan and Jessup was business, and lets Teardrop take Ree and be on theirway.

On the way home, Teardrop tells Ree that if she ever finds out who killed her father, not to tell him because then hewould have to do something about it and end up "toes up" as well. Ree sees no further options that would enableher to either keep the house or keep the family together, so she attempts to join the military after seeing recruitingposters offering a $40,000 signing bonus for 5 years of service. But when the recruiter tells her she will not be ableto care for her family while in basic training or deployed to a foreign country, she changes her mind. Teardropwakes up Ree one night after a change of heart to help her poke around, including visiting a bar (which ends withhim smashing a windshield), looking for freshly buried dirt at a cemetery, and the night ends after a tense standoffwhen the Sheriff backs down after having pulled Teardrop over.

One night, the same three Milton women who beat Ree come to her house. They offer to take her to see "herfather's bones." Their offer to help her requires revealing little much else about her father so that no new "rumours"will be told about them. The women blindfold Ree so that she will not know where she is going. They drive her to apond, get into a rowboat, and row to the shallow submerged place where her father's body lies. They insist Reereach into the water and grasp her father's hands. They expect her to pull the arms taut, so that, using a chainsaw,they can cut them off the corpse. When Ree presents the hands it will finally prove to the authorities that her fatheris dead. Ree agonizes, but complies. After one hand has been severed, Ree balks and fails to firmly grasp herfather's deteriorating remaining arm. The chainsaw-toting Merab admonishs her, explaining that in the past lawauthorities have been fooled by fugitives before, and that only by the submitting of both hands will the authorities beplacated from their pursuit. Agonizingly, Ree helps with the removal of her father's other hand.

After Ree delivers the severed hands to the sheriff after telling him they were flung onto their porch, she and her

family are able to keep their home. The bailbondsman once again returns and also delivers an unexpected boon - alarge sum of cash that had been part of the bond was not claimed by an anonymous Jessup associate.

The movie ends with Teardrop visiting Ree Dolly and giving Sonny and Ashlee a baby chicken each to raise. Aftertrying to play Jessup's banjo, he tells Ree that he knows who killed his brother. Ree wants to give the banjo toTeardrop, but Teardrop says that she should keep it for him, and then abruptly leaves. Ree's brother Sonny asksRee if she plans on leaving them, to which she responds she would never leave them. Ree's little sister picks up thebanjo and attempts to play it.

CastJennifer Lawrence as Ree DollyJohn Hawkes as Teardrop DollyLauren Sweetser as GailGarret Dillahunt as Sheriff BaskinDale Dickey as MerabShelley Waggener as SonyaKevin Breznahan as Little ArthurAshlee Thompson as Ashlee DollyTate Taylor as SatterfieldSheryl Lee as AprilCody Shiloh Brown as FloydIsaiah Stone as Sonny Dolly

ProductionAfter the release of Debra Granik's first film Down to the Bone, Granik and co-writer Anne Rosellini were lookingfor another project. Granik and Rosellini informed author Daniel Woodrell of their interest in his yet-unpublishedmaterial. They commented that he was receptive to their interest based on their previous work. "He had seen ourprevious film, which let him know how we work, and the scrappy type of filmmaking that we do, which would below budget. He had a very distinct reference and he let us know that he liked that film, which also had the word‘bone’ in it. And when he gave us that confidence, he knew what we were about, so the expectations wereappropriate, you know."[2]

Granik also commented that the subject matter of meth and its impact upon the Ozarks region were troubling forboth cast and crew. "I think that the subject of meth for everybody involved – for local people and the crew – itwas extremely upsetting. There is not one aspect of looking at meth that is mellow or benign: what it does to ahuman being’s body, their faces, their teeth. Everything about it is so vicious, and so dramatic and so relentless.There is basically not one bit of solace in that whole depiction of actual reality of it."[2]

Granik comments that the filmmakers gave Lawrence "obstacles" to create a more authentic and detailedperformance. "I think that Jennifer Lawrence was given these very real settings in which to function and very realobstacles. She really had to run the hill. She really had to wrangle her on-screen brother and sister in certain things.She did have logs and different kinds of animals to contend with. And the fact that she had these real-life tasks Ithink we started to feel confident that everything the actress was doing would have a rigor to it and you would sensethat she was not just breathing through experiences."[2]

Response

Critics

Winter's Bone received widespread critical acclaim. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 95% of criticshave given the film a positive review based on 148 reviews, for an average score of 8.3/10.[3] Among RottenTomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of notable critics from the top newspapers and websites,[4] the film alsoholds an overall approval rating of 94%, based on a sample of 31 reviews.[5] The site's consensus is that "Bleak,haunting, and yet still somehow hopeful, Winter's Bone is writer-director Debra Granik's best work yet—and itboasts an incredible, starmaking performance from Jennifer Lawrence."[5] Metacritic, which assigns a weightedaverage score out of 1–100 reviews from film critics, reports a rating score of 90 based on 35 reviews, with thefilm in the "universal acclaim" category.[6] Reviewer Peter Travers found the film "unforgettable", stating "Granikhandles this volatile, borderline horrific material with unblinking ferocity and feeling" and "In Lawrence, Granik hasfound just the right young actress to inhabit Ree. Her performance is more than acting, it's a gathering storm."[7]

Web-based critic James Berardinelli said that "Winter's Bone is a welcome reminder that thrillers don't have to beloud and boisterous to grab the attention and keep it captive."[8] David Edelstein stated "For all the horror, it’s thedrive toward life, not the decay, that lingers in the mind. As a modern heroine, Ree Dolly has no peer, and Winter’sBone is the year’s most stirring film."[9] New Yorker critic David Denby called Winter's Bone "one of the greatfeminist works in film." [10]

Audience

Winter's Bone debuted in cinemas in mid-June 2010, with its opening weekend generating "a hearty" $84,797 onfour screens; the movie’s subsequent outing and expansion to 39 total venues yielded sales of $351,317 (for a per-theater average of $9,008).[11] The film's distributors Roadside Attractions aimed, concurrently with New York,Los Angeles and Boston, at "heartland cities" such as Minneapolis, Overland Park, St. Louis, Springfield, Dallasand Denver, which eventually all attracted significant audiences, surpassing New York's.[11] According to thedistributor company, "the filmmakers had always wanted to deliver the movie to the people who helped them makeit."[11] The film, as of March 2011, has grossed domestically in the United States more than $6.5 million in cinematicket sales and nearly $2.2 million internationally,[1] thus more than recouping its $2 million production cost.

Awards

Further information: List of accolades received by Winter's Bone

The film won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic Film and the Best Screenplay Award at the 2010 Sundance FilmFestival.[12] It also received two awards at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival in Germany. At the 2010 StockholmInternational Film Festival, it won the awards for Best Film, Best Actress (Lawrence) and the Fipresci Prize.[13]

The film won Best Feature and Best Ensemble Performance at the 2010 Gotham Awards.[14] It has earned sevennominations at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress.[15]

References

1. ̂a b "Winter's Bone (2010)" (http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wintersbone.htm) . Box Office Mojo. IMDb.

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wintersbone.htm. Retrieved March 22, 2011.2. ̂a b c Moraitis, Andrew (November 10, 2010). "Down To The Bone"

(http://newshit.com.au/content/movies/down-bone) . News Hit. http://newshit.com.au/content/movies/down-bone.Retrieved November 30, 2010.

3. ^ "Winter's Bone (2010)" (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012136-winters_bone/) . Rotten Tomatoes.http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012136-winters_bone/. Retrieved February 22, 2011.

4. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes FAQ: What is Cream of the Crop"(http://www.rottentomatoes.com/pages/faq#creamofthecrop) . Rotten Tomatoes.http://www.rottentomatoes.com/pages/faq#creamofthecrop. Retrieved July 10, 2010.

5. ̂a b "Winter's Bone (2010)" (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012136-winters_bone/?critic=creamcrop) .Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012136-winters_bone/?critic=creamcrop. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.

6. ^ "Winter's Bone" (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/wintersbone) . Metacritic.http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/wintersbone. Retrieved July 25, 2010.

7. ^ Travers, Peter (June 3, 2010). "Winter's Bone" (http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/17388/106248) .Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/17388/106248. Retrieved July 25, 2010.

8. ^ Berardinelli, James. "Winter's Bone" (http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2100) .reelviews.net. http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2100. Retrieved 7 February 2011.

9. ^ Edelstein, David (June 6, 2010). "Ozark Gothic" (http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/66465/) . New YorkMagazine. http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/66465/. Retrieved July 25, 2010.

10. ^ Denby, David (2010-07-05). "Thrills and Chills"(http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2010/07/05/100705crci_cinema_denby) . The New Yorker.Retrieved 2011-02-01.

11. ̂a b c "Winter’s Bone Heats Up in the Heartland" (http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/06/27/box-office-focus-winters-bone-heats-up-in-the-heartland/) Wall Street Journal, 27 June 2010

12. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (January 31, 2010). "'Winter's Bone' wins grand jury prize for drama at Sundance"(http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-sundancewinners31-2010jan31,0,2276731.story) . Los AngelesTimes. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-sundancewinners31-2010jan31,0,2276731.story.Retrieved November 30, 2010.

13. ^ "Winners 2010 - Stockholms filmfestival" (http://www.stockholmfilmfestival.se/en/festival/2010/winners/) .stockholmfilmfestival.se. Stockholm International Film Festival.http://www.stockholmfilmfestival.se/en/festival/2010/winners/. Retrieved 2010-11-28.

14. ^ Ryzik, Melena (November 29, 2010). "‘Winter’s Bone’ Dominates at Gothams"(http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/winters-bone-dominates-at-gothams/) . New York Times.http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/winters-bone-dominates-at-gothams/. Retrieved November 30,2010.

15. ^ Tourtellotte, Bob (November 30, 2010). "'Winter's Bone,' 'Kids' come up big at Spirit Awards"(http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3027005620101130) . Reuters.http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3027005620101130. Retrieved November 30, 2010.

External linksOfficial website (http://www.wintersbonemovie.com/)Winter's Bone (http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/v507386) at AllroviWinter's Bone (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wintersbone.htm) at Box Office MojoWinter's Bone (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399683/) at the Internet Movie DatabaseWinter's Bone (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012136-winters_bone/) at Rotten TomatoesInterview with John Hawkes ("Teardrop") (http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2010/11/06/Interview-with-WINTERS-BONE-actor-John-Hawkes) at Quietearth.usMoon, Michael and Colin Talley. "Life in a Shatter Zone: Debra Granik's Film Winter's Bone."

(http://southernspaces.org/2010/life-shatter-zone-debra-graniks-film-winters-bone) Southern Spaces,December 6, 2010.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter%27s_Bone"Categories: 2010 films | American films | English-language films | 2010s drama films | American independent films |American drama films | Films set in Missouri | Sundance Film Festival award winners

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