‘Wind River’ Sundance Review: Jeremy Renner Shines in Taylor Sheridan’s Directorial Debut
Renner and Elizabeth Olsen investigate a murder in this beautiful and gripping crime tale from the “Hell or High Water” screenwriter
Steve Pond | January 22, 2017 @ 12:19 AM
Last Updated: January 22, 2017 @ 9:09 AM
AWARDS BEAT
Courtesy of the Sundance Institute
The snowstorm that blanketed Park City for most of Saturday combined with the women’s march to make it one of the toughest days ever to navigate the festival. But it also set the tone nicely for “Wind River,” the directorial debut of “Hell or High Water” screenwriter Taylor Sheridan and a topnotch drama that he might as well have titled “Hell or High Snow.”
Set on a Native American reservation in Wyoming, “Wind River” takes place almost entirely in frigid snowscapes, as FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) enlists the help of local game tracker Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) to find the killer or killers responsible for the rape and murder of a teenage girl whose frozen body is found in the snow.
Sheridan is currently riding high with the awards buzz for “Hell or High Water,” in which he captured the damage that big banks have done to the U.S. middle class in the context of an exciting crime thriller. And “Wind River” goes down that same path, to a degree: On the surface a tense investigative piece with Renner as a regular Sherlock of the snow, it also slipped in cogent and damning points about the limitations and dead ends virtually forced on many residents of Native American reservations.
And they’re forced on the characters in this movie, too. When Olsen’s Jane, before heading into a dangerous situation, asks the reservation’s police chief (the always great Graham Greene), “Shouldn’t we wait for some backup?,” his reply is weary and succinct: “This isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of ‘you’re on your own.'”
But for all the points it makes, “Wind River” feels like even less of a political movie than “Hell or High Water” did. If that film was a coded state-of-the-union message, this one is more about the state of the heart.
Cory is clearly obsessed with helping the naïve (and initially underdressed) Jane track down the men responsible for the girl’s death, and we quickly find out why: His own teenage daughter was found dead in the snow years earlier, a blow from which no father can ever truly recover.
In many ways, the most devastating scenes are intimate conversations between Renner and Olsen or Renner and Gil Birmingham, playing the father of the dead girl. Cory is all but consumed by his personal loss, and he can barely look at the people he’s talking to, but his words about loss and recovery are profoundly moving, and Renner catches every nuance in what may well be his best performance since “The Hurt Locker.”
For much of its running time, “Wind River” is a quiet, meditative crime drama, and a wonderfully effective one, aided by haunting music by Warren Ellis and Nick Cave.
And then, quite suddenly, it isn’t that at all. In a startling twist, the investigation suddenly becomes an explanation; while the audience is watching to see how Cory and Jane will find answers, Sheridan suddenly gives us all of those answers in a sustained blast of hellish violence.
The shift is jarring, which shouldn’t be unexpected when you consider that this is Sheridan’s directorial debut. Perhaps “Hell or High Water” director David Mackenzie negotiated the tonal shifts of that movie a little more deftly than Sheridan does with the ones in this movie – but to be fair, it’s supposed to be jarring, and the balance that was deliberately upended is restored by the time the movie comes to an affecting and satisfying ending.
The Eccles Theatre audience responded warmly, and in a post-screening Q&A Renner in particular seemed to have been deeply moved. He tried to joke that his approach to playing the character was “Just don’t suck, Renner,” but he also choked up several times as he talked about the character. “I can’t even say a sentence without getting weepy,” he finally confessed.
For his part, Sheridan insisted that his films are inspired by “a lot of red wine, really sad country music … and some self-loathing.” But then he, too, got serious about what he was trying to accomplish.
“At the root of it, I’m trying to discover who we are,” said Sheridan. “Some of it is pretty shameful, and some of it is beautiful.”
And “Wind River” goes straight down the path suggested by that quote. It lays out the shame, but it also reaches for and finds the beauty.
14 Hottest Sundance Movies for Sale: From Degenerate Nuns to Sexting Angelenos (Photos)
Park City, Utah, is about to be flush with cash -- and we're not talking about buying apres-ski gear. Here are the most promising sales titles of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
"Brigsby Bear" Kyle Mooney ("SNL") leads an impressive ensemble in what seems to be a millennial take on "The Truman Show." The title refers to a children's TV show made for an audience of one -- a boy named James, whose life changes after the show's abrupt end. Dave McCary directs from a script by Mooney and Kevin Costello. Claire Danes, Mark Hamill, Greg Kinnear and Michaela Watkins co-star.
"The Big Sick" Socially relevant fare that's based on a true story is often a winning combination for Sundance features. "Silicon Valley" star Kumail Nanjiani and girlfriend Emily V. Gordon wrote this true tale of bridging cultural divides among their families while navigating their careers and romance.
"Beach Rats" Multiple programmers, sales agents and content buyers told TheWrap they're all keen to see this thoroughly modern drama from Eliza Hittman. The movie stars Harris Dickinson as a Brooklyn teen with a grim home life, a budding romance with a female friend and a predilection for meeting up with older men he connects with online.
"A Ghost Story" David Lowery reunites with his "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" stars Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck for a chamber drama about a man who dies, and is forced to watch his loved one grieve over expanses of time.
"The Hero" Sam Elliott stars as an aging country legend confronting his demons (territory that netted Jeff Bridges an Oscar in 2010 for “Crazy Heart”). The film also stars "Orange Is the New Black" star Laura Prepon, which may make it hard for Netflix to resist scooping it up.
"Roxanne, Roxanne" As he keeps chugging along the road to the Academy Awards, "Moonlight" star Mahershala Ali comes to Park City with "Roxanne, Roxanne" -- the story of Lolita "Roxanne Shanté" Gooden, who became a fierce rap battle queen at age 14. Chante Adams stars in this real-life story from writer-director Michael Larnell.
"The Yellow Birds" Alexander Moors ("Blue Caprice") offers up this tale of young Iraq war veterans, which boasts hot up-and-coming stars Alden Ehrenreich (the new Han Solo) and Tye Sheridan. The tale unfolds as a mystery, with a fallen hero's mother (Jennifer Aniston) and a tough-as-nails military official (Jason Patric) searching for answers in a young man's death.
"Step" One of numerous hot docs in Park City, Amanda Lipitz’s opus follows a team of step dancers in Baltimore — an inspiring group of inner-city girls living in the midst of social unrest.
"To the Bone" Marti Noxon, a longtime symbol of female empowerment in TV for her work on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "UnREAL," makes her feature directorial debut with a pitch-black comedy about her own struggle with anorexia. The film stars Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves.
"Landline" Director Gillian Robespierre reunites with her "Obvious Child" star Jenny Slate for a tale of lying, cheating and Manhattanite family bonds. Slate produces; Edie Falco, John Turturro, Finn Wittrock and Jay Duplass co-star.
"The Polka King" Jack Black descends on Utah with a meaty role as a Bernie Madoff for the indie music scene. In Maya Forbes’ indie Black plays Polish immigrant Jan Lewan — who became the “King of Pennsylvania Polka” in the 1990s, bribing and cheating investors along the way.
"The Little Hours" Director Jeff Baena continues to surprise, this time with a quiet riot of a film about extremely misbehaving nuns in an Italian hamlet. Reunited with his real-life girlfriend and star Aubrey Plaza ("Life After Beth") and producer Liz Destro, "Little Hours" sees a medieval convent go insane after a sexy day laborer (Dave Franco) moves in.
"Golden Exits" Director Alex Ross Perry and star Emily Browning help bring two infighting New York families together. A prototypical indie drama with pedigree, it co-stars Mary-Louise Parker, Lily Rabe, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Sevigny, Adam Horowitz and Analeigh Tipton.
"Newness" Drake Doremus ("Like Crazy") returns to Sundance with another drama about young romance. This time, his "Equals" star Nicholas Hoult and newcomer Laia Costa play a contemporary L.A. couple navigating "a social media-driven hookup culture," whose relationship pushes multiple boundaries.
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Streaming companies and indie distributors will battle it out for these movies
Park City, Utah, is about to be flush with cash -- and we're not talking about buying apres-ski gear. Here are the most promising sales titles of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.