{"id":32242,"date":"2017-09-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mancunion.manchestermediagroup.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/09\/25\/review-wind-river\/"},"modified":"2018-07-18T05:34:24","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T04:34:24","slug":"review-wind-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/2017\/09\/25\/review-wind-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Wind River"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crime in sub-zero territory has been well-represented on-screen throughout the years.\u00a0 Notable examples include classics such as the Coens\u2019 Fargo<\/em> (1996), and more recent hits, such as Jennifer Lawrence\u2019s breakthrough film Winter\u2019s Bone<\/em> (2010) and Sky Atlantic\u2019s Fortitude.<\/em>\u00a0 There is something about the bleak and monotonic landscape of tundra, or frozen expanses, that injects into audiences a chill which is\u00a0difficult to recreate\u00a0in other settings.<\/p>\n

Wind River<\/em> is no exception.\u00a0 Right from the film\u2019s opening scene, in which we see a terrified girl run barefoot through vast stretches of snow, the unforgiving nature of the environment is evident.\u00a0 Do not let the inclusion of Avengers<\/em> duo Renner and Olsen fool you \u2014\u00a0this film could not be any further from the glossy superhero romps Marvel continue to churn out.<\/p>\n

After 18 year old Natalie Hanson\u2019s body is found frozen in the Wind River Indian Reservation, FBI agent Jane Banner (Olsen) arrives to assess whether the death was a homicide.\u00a0 With help from Renner\u2019s Cory Lambert \u2014\u00a0a predator hunter for the reservation \u2014\u00a0she follows an ominous trail of leads to track down the culprit, only to uncover a truth much darker and sinister than first suspected.<\/p>\n

All in all, it is a highly impressive directorial debut from Taylor Sheridan (ignoring his 2011 gore-porn flick Vile).<\/em>\u00a0 He is known for his superb screenplays in\u00a0Sicario<\/em> (2015) and Hell or High Water<\/em> (2016), and the dialogue and tone of these two films is very much present in Wind River<\/em>. However, he has avoided merely mimicking the techniques he undoubtedly observed from directors Denis Villeneuve and David McKenzie while working on these films; with immensely powerful and atmospheric cinematography from the relatively inexperienced Ben Richardson, Sheridan has made the film his own, and could be looking at a very prosperous directorial career ahead of him.<\/p>\n

The major\u00a0shortcoming of the film, however, is its initial pace.\u00a0 The audience warms to Renner\u2019s Lambert immediately, through expositional scenes of the hunter with his son and ex-wife.\u00a0 Yet it is the scenes in which Sheridan introduces us to the mourning parents of victim Natalie, and in which Lambert berates the junkie Hanson brother Chip, that dilute the tension and suspense, causing the opening act drag somewhat.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, this is a minor pitfall which is quickly forgotten as the tried-and-tested chemistry between Renner and Olsen blossoms further, and the plot thickens.\u00a0 There is an ingenious flashback scene which completely changes the complexion of the act\u00a0it interrupts (starring a Jon Bernthal very different to the characters he is renowned for playing in The Walking Dead<\/em> and this year\u2019s Baby Driver<\/em>), and at the film\u2019s climax there is an exhilarating stand-off scene which more than makes up for the film\u2019s slow start.<\/p>\n

Sheridan\u2019s next film project is Villeneuve\u2019s Sicario<\/em> sequel, Soldado,<\/em> for which he has written the screenplay.\u00a0 Wind River<\/em> is an excellent first run-out as director for the writer, and already enjoying vast critical and commercial success, could prove to be Sheridan\u2019s gateway to a successful directorial career.<\/p>\n

4\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen star in a chilling thriller set in the unforgiving snowy wilderness of Wyoming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1535,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[18552,8495,15078,16238,18553,18554],"coauthors":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1535"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32242"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancunion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=32242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}