Winter's Bone Blog - Karina

Winter's Bone is a (2010) drama film starring Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly and John Hawkes as Uncle Teardrop. Winning several awards, Winter's Bone is focused on a female protagonist which Lawrence plays. In the film, Ree lives with and cares for her two siblings: Sonny and Ashlee as well as their mother Connie. Ree is on a search for her father, Jessup because they are in danger of being homeless considering Jessup was in the drug business. Jessup had the responsibility to show up to his court date but did not. The tone of the film is very cool tone which makes the film more mysterious and cold.

In the beginning of the film, the setting was Ree's house, peaceful and quiet until the sheriff shows up and ruins the mood. He explains that Jessup put their house on the line of being taken away unless he shows up to court. Clueless, Ree tells the sheriff that she will find her father herself. She starts by visiting Teardrop, Jessup’s brother, and eventually heading to a local crime boss. At Thump Milton’s house, he refuses to see her and tells her to leave the situation alone but becomes suspicious. Having a week left, Ree decides to go back to meeting up with Milton, instead she gets beaten up by relative’s of his family until Teardrop saves her. Teardrop later informs her that Jessup had passed away in a meth lab accident and that he doesn’t know who killed him. Ree did not believe him and even though she told the house collector that Jessup was dead. Ree believes that her father is dead when the women that fought Ree showed up. They truthfully told Ree that Jessup was dead and his body was dropped in a river. After telling Ree, they advise her to go with them so that they can show her evidence of her dad. When they arrive at the lake on a canoe, they tell Ree to reach down and pull up her father’s bone. After hesitating, Ree finally does it and surprised that it is her father. When realizing, one of the women shows Ree a chainsaw and tells her to cut of her father’s hands as proof to the sheriff. She protests that she does not want to and so one of the Milton women takes action into her own hands. She tells Ree to hold up Jessup’s arm so that she can cut it. After cutting his hand, Ree quickly lets her father’s body float back down in disgust. The woman tells Ree that she needs both hands as evidenced and so Ree grabs her father’s body again and the woman cuts off the other. The scene ends with the woman wrapping both decapitated hands in a sack. The next morning, Ree shows up to the police office and hands the sheriff the evidence.

At the end of the film, Ree and her family got to keep the house and got some of the extra bail money. Ree, Ashlee, and Sonny all sit on the porch while Teardrop talks to them. He tells Ree that he knows who killed him and walks away suggesting that he will get revenge for his brother.

This film did not interest me at first but as I watched it, it revealed a good story and plot. The characters played their roles well and I would recommend this film to someone who likes drama films.