Interestingly enough, the plot of Winter's Bone closely resembles that of Tobacco Road viewed earlier this week; although the circumstances have changed a little, a bank's threat of eviction being the least of Ree Dolly's (Jennifer Lawrence in an impressively solid performance) problems. When she learns that her house is in danger of foreclosure if her absent meth-cooking dad doesn't show up for his upcoming court date, 17 year-old Dolly sets out to find him; it's the street for her invalid mother and two younger siblings if she fails. As she goes digging into her father's life she encounters a mountain world isolated by rampant crystal-meth production and addiction, the drug's invasive nature paving the way for Dolly's premature glimpse of the symptoms of desperation. But hope for sporadic comfort is still shown to exist as the strength of blood-ties is strengthened by the entire ordeal. Bones paints a desolate portrait of middle-America with characters who are fully aware of their desolate state yet have lost the will to do anything about it, instead choosing to sink deeper into social exile, even ready to use violence to protect their decomposing little world. In Dolly, Jennifer Lawrence's fierce determination represents opposition to placid acceptance of shitty circumstances; a refreshing sight in a place where resolved self-destruction seems to be the prevailing attitude. Winter's Bones is a brutally honest look at a part of the country not often portrayed on American screens, and this in itself makes it worth the watch.
This looks really good! I saw a documentary in my addictions class about communities falling because of people using and cooking meth. Super sad :(
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