Movie Reaction: Wind River

Formula: Insomnia / Hell or High Water

Last year, when I first saw the trailer for Hell or High Water, I didn't give it a second thought. It looked pretty generic. It was a crime movie in Texas, and that's about it. Good cast, but no one who doesn't have a few stinkers in their filmography. There was a little commentary on the economy that didn't sound all that enlightening. I was ready to call it a late summer burn off and forget about it like The Book of Henry or Eddiethe Eagle. Then, it didn't go away. The word of mouth was abnormally strong. It was getting awards talk because the season's art house success story. So, I found it shortly before it left theaters are was really blown away by it. There was nothing special to the plot itself, but the film had such a great command of tone and characters that I really fell for it. Movies don't have to be doing something new to be great. They can just be great because they are executing familiar things at a high level, which was the case for Hell or High Water.

That is all a long winded way of saying that when the Wind River trailer looked pretty bland, I knew not to worry. Wind River was written and directed by Taylor Sheridan who also wrote (but didn't direct) Hell or High Water* and pulls off the same kind of trick. There isn't anything in the movie that I hadn't seen before in any number of movies about tracking down a killer, but it's all done so well.

*He wrote Sicario too, which was his first screenplay credit. As far as debut screenplays go, Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River make for a hell of a strong and distinctive start.

Wind River is a pretty simple movie. Corey Lambet (Jeremy Renner) is a US Fish and Wildlife Service agent who finds the frozen body of a girl in the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) is a young FBI agent called in to investigate if this was a murder*. Since the girl was found in the middle of nowhere, Jane employs Corey to help her track where the girl came from and, hopefully, solve the murder. The crime, the amount we do learn about it, isn't all that complex. The story isn't concerned with red herrings. It's more about putting the audience in this world.

*I'm not actually sure why the FBI was called in for this, but I'm guessing it has to do with jurisdiction, since it's an Indian Reservation.

That's probably the defining characteristic about Sheridan's screenplays so far: they introduce real places that feel like different worlds. In Sicario, it was the US/Mexican border. In Hell or High Water, it was West Texas. In Wind River, it's the frozen wilderness of Wyoming. It's an isolated region. Cold and unforgiving. If the elements don't kill you, the people might. Because Indian Reservations aren't entirely part of the U.S. or entirely independent, the region feels forgotten. As the film points out, they have a six man police force to watch over a region the size of Rhode Island. This sense of isolation and unease is underlined by a terrific score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. I loved the music throughout. It was always right on the verge of going too big for the moment and kept me on edge throughout. I often say that I have no vocabulary for music and typically don't even think about the music in a film during a first viewing. If I do notice the music the first time, that's either a very good sign (Jackie) or a very bad one (Suicide Squad).

If I'm being honest, I'm undecided about the casting. I like Jeremy Renner and he's in his element as a gruff outdoorsy type. At the same time, you kind of feel like a Native American actor would've been a better fit. Let me be clear though, he is not trying to pass as a Native American in this. He's a white guy. I just think, all else the same, someone Native American would've made more sense. Elizabeth Olsen doesn't fit at all, which is the point. She supposed to be an outsider. They also don't overplay that either. She and Renner work very well together. The rest of the cast is filled with capable character actors who don't try to upstage the scenery.

I'm also not in love with the climax of the movie. Like in Hell or High Water, it has a sequence that's big in a way that feels more required than a natural fit. It's entertaining and makes some sense in the context of the world. It just puts a neat little bow on everything in a way that didn't seem needed. It's a very well done sequence though. In fact, I have no complaints about Sheridan's direction throughout. Sicario and Hell or High Water had accomplished directors bringing the scripts to life. Sheridan hasn't directed much before this film. I was afraid there'd be a drop off in quality and there wasn't.

I was very pleased with this movie. I'd rate it above Sicario and below Hell or High Water, which isn't a bad place to be. It's a good crime drama. It isn't reinventing the form, nor is it trying to. The acting, directing, cinematography, and music are all great, which more than makes up for the story feeling a little slight and the themes being delivered rather bluntly. Basically, I'm talking about the difference between really liking and loving a movie. I really liked this.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend