I've Got A Movie Recommendation For This Snowy Day: 'Wind River'

Over break, I caught up on a lot of this year’s critically acclaimed movies. I watched ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, ‘Lady Bird’, all of the movies that were getting the “Best movie of all time!” tag put on them this year. One of the flicks I watched that didn’t have as much buzz around it was ‘Wind River’, starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, and I thought it was the best of the bunch…by far. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like this is some obscure indie arthouse film nobody’s ever heard of, I just haven’t seen it brought up in the “Best Picture” discussion nearly enough. Possibly because it was a Weinstein flick. Let me tell you a little bit about this movie…

(no spoilers)

Jeremy Renner plays a wildlife officer who finds the body of a dead 18-year-old girl on an American Indian reservation in Wyoming, and Elizabeth Olsen stars opposite him as the FBI agent selected to investigate the rape/murder. Renner delivers his best performance since ‘The Hurt Locker’, and Olsen delivers her best performance ever. They obviously have some experience playing off each other as Hawkeye/Scarlett Witch, and the chemistry shines through here. When they really start getting into the investigation, shit goes awry very quickly, and this movie starts to feel like a snowy ‘Gone Baby Gone’ in a really great way. It features one of the most tense scenes since the first season of ‘True Detective’ and the toughest scene to watch since ‘Manchester By The Sea’. ‘Wind River’ is NOT for the faint-hearted. It’s heavy all the way through; you’ll feel like you’re watching it with a weight on your chest. The third act is so well written and satisfying to the story, however, that it’s all worth it in the end.

As of this blog, while I’ve still got a decent amount of movies to watch in my Oscars’ catch up, ‘Wind River’ is my slotted pick for Best Picture. If you don’t wanna take my word for it, take each other’s. I tweeted out this recommendation after credits rolled the first time I watched it, and the responses were all in sync.

Make yourself some hot cocoa and treat yourself to a film* tonight, ladies and gentlemen.

*The rank of “film” is the highest rank movies can get.