As I watched Winter's Bone, I kept thinking of True Grit. They are both stories where a teenage girl is on a quest to find out information about her father. Both seek justice.
In True Grit, Mattie Ross is told that her father was murdered. She knows the man who murdered him. She hires a U.S. Marshall, Rooster Cogburn, to track her father's killer down, and she insists on accompanying him.
There is a lot of talk in True Grit about her father being an honorable man. In Winter's Bone, Ree has to find her father, because he has jumped bail, and he put the house up for collateral. Ree is fighting for the preservation of her family. Her mother is unable to help her. She has two younger siblings. She has to find her father so that their home is not taken away from them.
Both enter a world of danger. Ree seems more savvy. Along the way, there are times when family members or a friend accompany her, but it is more of a solo journey. Mattie has Cogburn and LaBoeuf with her.
I've written about True Grit before here (Post on the Remake) and here (Post on the Original), particularly in how I thought that they had erred in their casting. Seeing Winter's Bone made me think on that again. As Ree, Jennifer Lawrence is able to handle the emotional complexities of her role. She is believable as a tough customer, as a girl who had to grow up too soon, as someone who would understand the responsibilities of a household and be able to take care of a family.
Both Winter's Bone and True Grit suffer a bit from hipsterdom. There is that sense of the outsider looking in sometimes, the "Isn't it cool? We're filming this mythic voyage in Appalachia" feeling, or with True Grit, "Never mind that people loved the original film. We'll make it dark and vintage."
I am fiercely loyal to the original True Grit. Flaws and all, that is my film. There are scenes in Winter's Bone that I will not forget. Although it took me a while to do so, I think it is something to see.
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