Review WIND RIVER (2017)

[Doctor Omega]

Having worked together on at least two Marvel projects now, actors Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen took time out from superhero shenanigans recently to shoot “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water” scribe Taylor Sheridan’s directorial debut – “Wind River”.

Premiering at Sundance to strong reviews, the thriller follows a game tracker who teams with a rookie FBI agent to solve the murder of a local girl on a remote Native American Reservation.

The film opens in cinemas on August 4th.

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

Wind River a film with Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen was supposed to have been released on Aug. 4th. A suspense film that got crazy good reviews at Cannes and other festivals: is rumored to be one of Renner's best performances, was made by the director who wrote the screenplay and directed Hell or High Water and as I understand it, did the same with WR. It's a suspense, murder-mystery in which Renner plays a tracker and Olsen is a "newbie" FBI agent tasked with hunting down a murderer in the mountains of Wyoming.

Check the clips on You Tube (I am so sorry I couldn't get them to attach) what's there is both stunningly beautiful (filming and location), highly suspenseful and contains every great element a good trailer is supposed to have in order to hook you into wanting to see the film. It looks to have spectacular action sequences and outstanding character development..... so where the hell is it?

This is a film with great buzz as far as I can tell and is the first film in a long while I wanted to be there for the first showing on the day it opened.... which, unfortunately, it did not do.

So Doc.... and anyone else with any knowledge of the film..... what's the deal?

I am waiting and will continue to do so, until I can get my butt in a theater seat to see this film on the big screen. Will I be able to? Or is it going to end up going straight to DVD (which would piss me off no end because based on what I've seen, it simply cries out to be released to theaters).

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

Wind River is a 2017 American thriller film written and directed by Taylor Sheridan.

The film stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsenas agents of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and FBI, respectively, who try to solve a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released on August 4, 2017, by The Weinstein Company

Cast

• Jeremy Renner as Cory Lambert
• Elizabeth Olsen as Jane Banner
• Gil Birmingham as Martin Hanson
• Jon Bernthal as Matt
• Julia Jones as Wilma Lambert
• Kelsey Chow as Natalie Hanson
• Graham Greene as Ben
• Martin Sensmeier as Chip Hanson
• Tyler Laracca as Frank Walker
• Gerald Tokala Clifford as Sam Littlefeather
• James Jordan as Pete Mickens
• Eric Lange as Dr. Whitehurst
• Ian Bohen as Evan
• Hugh Dillon as Curtis
• Matthew Del Negro as Dillon
• Teo Briones as Casey Lambert
• Tantoo Cardinal as Alice Crowheart
• Apesanahkwat as Dan Crowheart
• Althea Sam as Annie Hanson

Release

The Weinstein Company acquired the distribution rights on May 13, 2016 during the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

In January 2017, it was announced the company would no longer distribute the film.

However, the distribution deal was later finalized.

It was released on August 4, 2017.

Critical response

Wind River was described as a "humanistic crime drama, though this one has more skill than excitement," "a thrilling, violent finale to the Hell or High Water and Sicario trilogy" and "Coen brothers noir meets the case of the week."

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 86% based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Wind River lures viewers into a character-driven mystery with smart writing, a strong cast, and a skillfully rendered setting that delivers the bitter chill promised by its title."

On Metacritic, the film has a score of 73 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a B: "But if Wind River shares Sheridan’s self-evident weaknesses, it also makes the most of his signature strengths. [...] Wind River may not blow you away, but this bitter, visceral, and almost parodically intense thriller knows what it takes to survive."

 

[Doctor Omega]

I also found this....

Release date:August 4, 2017
(limited; expands: Aug. 11)

Read more at http://www.comingsoon.net/movie/wind-river-2017#4LgO6OSsgzVzV8Ug.99

So, hopefully more cinemas are showing the film now.

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

I love you Doc!

Hopefully this means it's going to hit the greater Seattle Met. area soon. Thanks for filling in the pieces I couldn't and thanks for managing to be everywhere on this whole board keeping us in touch with the things that matter to all of us. Especially as, in this case, we're talking about a film I don't think many have heard of due to poor promotion. It seems as if the films with stories and little to no CGI or comic book heroes just don't matter as much as the films without them. I'm still looking for the film you put up with Bill Pullman as an unconventional father of an unconventional family which looks to me to be both compelling and touching.....

So, just thank you Doc.....

And all the bunnies you can handle Dude!

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

So, hopefully more cinemas are showing the film now.

So, Wind River hit our theaters last weekend and I'm going this morning. I don't know if you're aware or not but we moved my Mom in with us last Feb. as she's too ill to live on her own. But the husband is home for a few days and I'm off to see the movie this morning.

It's the first time I've been to a film on the big screen since Doctor Strange and I'm as excited as a little girl. I'm a huge fan of JR and some buzz has said he may get a "Big O" nomination for this performance. If you want, I'll try to get a review in after I've let it settle and can be somewhat objective.... If I go batshit crazy for it (always a possibility with me you know) you may even get one in today!

I'm one of those crazy movie lovers who actually "dresses" for the show I'm going to.... weird right?! Because I take my film viewing quite seriously. I like going alone because I don't have to worry about whether or not my companion likes it and I wrap myself up in the "world" it presents like a blanket to get as full an experience as possible.

And DBs for my first theater film in over 8 months!

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

WIND RIVER - (Bear in mind, the rating comes from a WNW!)

WR is something you rarely see in theaters anymore. It opens with two acts of violence. One that you don't actually see but completely understand. One that you see and don't have a full picture of because, at the time, you don't have a complete context for it. Then, it largely cuts to conversation. It closes with yet another act of violence that is prefaced by and then ends with conversation. Actions and interactions which serve to tie the entire set of circumstances, from beginning to end, together like a perfect circle. It is at once a desolate and fierce film that is perfectly captured and enhanced by the landscape in which it takes place and by the richness and complexity of it's characters. People that, while they may be both good and bad, are without doubt completely human... something else we don't see much of anymore because Hollywhat doesn't seem to be interested in characters that represent real, actual human beings. Real, actual human beings in human situations seem to be boring these days... instead of being compelling simply by their honesty and the truth of their story. Real human beings that are capable of both good and evil but more often are represented by shades of gray. Just like the landscape in WR.

As I see it, life is lived through a series of conversations that are interspersed with action. In a nutshell, that's all life really amounts to. Yes there are choices to be made and any number of actions that result from those choices but the important choices and the actions that evolve from them are usually the result of interaction... conversations if you will, with other people. Rarely is anything done in a vacuum. WR is a film that is driven solidly and extremely well by interaction between the people who are most directly involved with the story. An important story as well. It touches on complex societal issues that we as a people usually try very hard to set aside and ignore. So it's not only a film that tells a story with deep, rich characters, it's a film that looks at things through the eyes of those characters that we would most often rather avoid... on any number of different levels. In and of itself that makes the film even more meaningful but I keep coming back to those characters because we see it through their eyes. We experience it through their hearts and minds and I have to believe that you cannot come out of a film like this without having your brain more than a little shaken up.

Is it a mystery? Yes. Does it have action? In droves. But the action is driven entirely by the story and the story wouldn't exist, hell it wouldn't even matter if it weren't for those magnificent, extraordinary characters. And it's a multi-layered story too. A story that, like much of life, doesn't provide all the answers. Within it's layers are moments of great complexity that will ultimately drive me back into the theater to see it again. Because I know enough now that I want to see those moments play out again, from a different vantage point. WR deserves it's place on the large screen because some stories need to just climb up into your face and force their way into you. Like the "Wind River" in which the story takes place, this film deserves the big screen because it's a big story with a lot to say and some people have a hard time listening to something important when it's on a small screen.... WR is a huge story. A story that with two exceptions, is served magnificently by it's cinematography (for those of us who like a good "shooter")!

Go. You won't be sorry about anything but the lack of promotion. This is a film that deserves better.

Hopefully, I've managed to tweak your interest button without giving too much away..... I'd be happy to go deeper with anyone who sees it... and wants to!