Wind River

Did anybody else go see this movie, which opened this weekend? It is directed by Taylor Sheridan, is part of a so-called frontier triology, with Sicario and Hell or High Water being the first two.

I wanted to really like it. Jeremy Renner was terrific as a cowboyish wildlife officer who knew the backcountry. The the winter scenery (Park Cities, UT?) was beautiful, a cold and snowy winter with the land blanketed in snow. And I'm glad somebody made a movie directing attention to the dreadful plight of native Americans women on reservations.

But it went off the rails badly. Elizabeth Olsen was horribly miscast as a FBI officer. It was a slow burn for awhile, which was good, but then everything resolved in a SPOILER COMING . . . hail of gunfire. No subtly whatsoever, and an unbelievably clumsy scene. It is almost as if the screenwriter got super lazy and said, what the hell? . . . let's get this thing over.

Just surprised they didn't have a car chase scene - - - oh wait, I guess it would be more appropriate to have a snowmobile chase scene . . . So much promise at first.

By far, Sicario is the best of the bunch to me. A really, really fine movie.

 

My local Cinema complex (Cinemark) finally got this today. It had been in limited release since since Aug 4 and finally opened nation wide a week later, but for some reason my theatre didn't get it until now. During the first week of release, not one theatre in the entire area had it (I think it was only limited to a few theatres in California and New York.) During the 2nd and 3rd weeks of release, only one theatre in the entire area carried it and it was in the back of Cincinnati somewhere. Otherwise, I would've seen this movie much sooner because I was anticipating it since seeing the first previews that were shown earlier in the year.

Overall, I liked the movie, but I don't this was as great as some of the critics said it was (getting pretty decent to good ratings and reviews at the major sites...Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, etc.) First off, it wasn't about what I thought it was going to be about. I knew it took place at Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming (filmed in Utah, though.) I thought it was going to be about Renner's character, a wild game tracker/hunter/warden, helping the FBI track down a serial killer. Nope, I was wrong regarding tracking down a serial killer. It was just about having to track down a person who raped an 18-year-old Native American girl (and killed her boyfriend,) who ended up dying in the wild due to the elements after fleeing her rapist. The pacing was all wrong. It was indeed a slow burner at first, but then changed gears to get to the final shootouts and manhunt. Also, after the final shootout and resulting manhunt, there was no more suspense left. You knew who the bad guy was and what was going to happen. There was still 20 minutes or so left in the movie after you knew the outcome. I guess the movie was more about coping with miserable life on Indian Reservations (rampant drug and alcohol use, mistreatment of women, crime, etc.) than anything else. Also, the parents coping with their daughter's death (and son's drug use and life of crime) was a theme, along with Jeremy Renner's character coping with his own past demons that were the result of a crime that happened to one of his family members on the reservation.

If it weren't for the violence, this movie had the feel of a Made-for-TV movie about life on an Indian Reservation.

Renner and the scenery were the best parts about the movie. I also agree that Elizabeth Olsen was miscast as an FBI officer, especially one who had no business being sent out alone to an Indian Reservation without backup. Graham Greene also co-stars as the reservation sheriff and plays his usual self.

 

I loved Hell or High Water and liked Sicario, yet I have almost no interest in this. And the comments so far are only reinforcing my thinking.

 

I liked the former and loved the latter, but in each case (moreso with Sicario) the directors crafted films of relentess suspense. Maybe Mr. Sheridan intended to make a more reflective and less exciting film. But if not...

 

I'll let you watch it first and tell me if it's a question of style or inexperience.

Seriously, though, if anyone wants to see this, I wouldn't wait too long. I give it two weeks tops at my local theater.

 

I haven't seen the film, though I intend to do. But from what I have read, that seems to be the point about Lizzie Olsen's character. Sending an officer of her experience level just shows how little the FBI cares about the Indians. She's a strong enough actress that I would be shocked if she were playing it poorly, especially with all the good stuff reported about the film.

But I won't know until I see it, of course.

 

Here's critic David Edelstein on Olsen:

 

Interesting. Well, we'll see. Clarice Starling was kind of like that at first, too. Of course, she was still a trainee.

 

If you wait till next week, you can make it an Elizabeth Olsen double feature:

Ingrid Goes West

And Aubrey Plaza's in that one.

 

Nice!

 

Excellent I thought.

 

no spoiler warning.

 

I enjoyed it very much.

 

I really liked the film. Saw it last week. Nice to see a normal movie without special effects

 

Just saw it today and loved it. Jeremy Renner was excellent in his role, which I really liked, and the storyline kept my attention and believability level up to the very end. To those who didn't like the gunplay scene, I thought it was very realistic - confrontations like that happen VERY fast in real life and you can bet there will be some slo-mo and pausing going on when this comes out on home video. It's always nice to see Graham Greene again, and Elizabeth Olsen was much better than expected when she first came into the film. I give it a 9 out of 10. I think there also may be some Academy nominations here, but I'm no expert.

 

Not only was it nice to see Graham Greene again, I thought he did an excellent job.
As did Renner.

 

Just saw this on blu, a welcome change from the dumb ass action oriented super hero crap that Hollywood produces.
This is Renner's film and he's great. I think Olsen also works as the out of place FBI agent.
BTW, Nick Cave did the music.

 

My wife and I watched Wind River for the first time last night. It was better than expected, and we were both pleasantly surprised. Although there were some plot holes that nagged at me after the movie was over.

 

Yeah, I liked it a lot too. Solid movie!

Wind River [Blu-ray] (2017)

 

I thought it was good. The most memorable thing I took from it was the little factoid at the very end. How native American women aren't counted/represented at all as far as counting women who are raped, murdered, or 'gone missing' in this country. And that they never have! This indicates that we have NO IDEA how many native American women this has happened to. It boggles the mind to contemplate the number. Is it single, double, triple, or quadruple digits? The treatment of these people by our gov't forever remains a national disgrace.

 

'sicario' IS the most under-rated and under-awarded movie ever made.

nominated for nothing, when deltoro, blunt, brolin, villeneuve, and the film itself were all some of the best of the entire year.

 

if you don't know about this, good news: Josh Brolin Says 'Sicario' Sequel ‘Soldado’ Is “More Severe” and “Much Bigger”

 

great great news.

emily blunt?

 

Good movie. Sad story. Left an impression, which is always good.

Renner & Olsen seem to continue their mentor/mentee roles from the Avengers movies.

re: the shocking blurb about unreported stats on native American women - I wonder how much of that is due to information containment by tribal jurisdiction?

 

I watched the BD when it came out and found the show to be above average.