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Wind River, 2017
When a young woman is found murdered on the Wind River Indian Reservation, young agent Banner (Elizabth Olsen) is the closest federal officer and is thus assigned the case. But her unfamiliarity with both the local landscape and culture means that she needs assistance from local tracker Lambert (Jeremy Renner) to find the perpetrator.
I think that if I'd watched this film a year or two ago, I'd have thought a lot more highly of it. As it stands, the dynamics of who was put at the forefront and who was used mostly as background left me a bit underwhelmed.
There are a lot of positives to this film. I have liked or loved everything that Tyler Sheridan has written and/or directed, and this film shows his usual strengths in telling a compelling story that rolls along at a great pace while still leaving room for small character moments.
The performances themselves are also strong. Renner and Olsen are both good in their roles, and they have some great support from Graham Greene as the local sheriff and Jon Bernthal as a man involved somehow in the crime. Everyone in the supporting cast acquits themselves well.
The scenery is also absolutely stunning. The film really captures both the beauty and the danger of the mountains and their extreme weather. Much of the action takes place outdoors, and the film is stronger for it.
Finally, the plot itself and the detours it takes through the different pockets of the community are woven together quite well.
But complaint-wise, here it is: why is this a movie about two white people solving a crime on a reservation? Why is every heroic character white? And did no one stop to consider how it looks to have a white man delivering words-of-wisdom lectures to only native people and the young woman he works with? This isn't a slam on Renner, who is fine in his role, but more a question about why every scene in this movie centers white characters when one of its goals seems to be addressing the issues---boredom, isolation, drug use--that mar the lives of the people (and especially the young people) on the reservation.
Fundamentally, I understand that this is a question of good ol' capitalism. Why wouldn't you put two Marvel universe actors at the center of your movie? Is there an indigenous actor with the kind of box office pull that Renner or Olsen have? No, there isn't. But I believe that Olsen or Renner alone could have drawn a crowd and it seems like a hugely wasted opportunity for the movie to put its money where its mouth is and pair either of those actors with someone from the community it uses as its murder mystery backdrop.
Solid stuff, but a real missed opportunity when it comes to how it explores the very specific setting it uses.
Wind River, 2017
When a young woman is found murdered on the Wind River Indian Reservation, young agent Banner (Elizabth Olsen) is the closest federal officer and is thus assigned the case. But her unfamiliarity with both the local landscape and culture means that she needs assistance from local tracker Lambert (Jeremy Renner) to find the perpetrator.
I think that if I'd watched this film a year or two ago, I'd have thought a lot more highly of it. As it stands, the dynamics of who was put at the forefront and who was used mostly as background left me a bit underwhelmed.
There are a lot of positives to this film. I have liked or loved everything that Tyler Sheridan has written and/or directed, and this film shows his usual strengths in telling a compelling story that rolls along at a great pace while still leaving room for small character moments.
The performances themselves are also strong. Renner and Olsen are both good in their roles, and they have some great support from Graham Greene as the local sheriff and Jon Bernthal as a man involved somehow in the crime. Everyone in the supporting cast acquits themselves well.
The scenery is also absolutely stunning. The film really captures both the beauty and the danger of the mountains and their extreme weather. Much of the action takes place outdoors, and the film is stronger for it.
Finally, the plot itself and the detours it takes through the different pockets of the community are woven together quite well.
But complaint-wise, here it is: why is this a movie about two white people solving a crime on a reservation? Why is every heroic character white? And did no one stop to consider how it looks to have a white man delivering words-of-wisdom lectures to only native people and the young woman he works with? This isn't a slam on Renner, who is fine in his role, but more a question about why every scene in this movie centers white characters when one of its goals seems to be addressing the issues---boredom, isolation, drug use--that mar the lives of the people (and especially the young people) on the reservation.
Fundamentally, I understand that this is a question of good ol' capitalism. Why wouldn't you put two Marvel universe actors at the center of your movie? Is there an indigenous actor with the kind of box office pull that Renner or Olsen have? No, there isn't. But I believe that Olsen or Renner alone could have drawn a crowd and it seems like a hugely wasted opportunity for the movie to put its money where its mouth is and pair either of those actors with someone from the community it uses as its murder mystery backdrop.
Solid stuff, but a real missed opportunity when it comes to how it explores the very specific setting it uses.