Winters Bone is a 2010 American independent drama film, an adaptation of Daniel Woodrells 2006 novel of the same name. Written and directed by Debra Granik and starring Jennifer Lawrence, the film explores the interrelated themes of close and distant family ties, the power and speed of gossip, patriarchy, self-sufficiency, and rural poverty in the Ozarks as they are changed by the pervasive1 underworld of illegal methamphetamine labs.
Ree Dolly , age 17, looks after her mentally ill mother, her brother Sonny and her sister Ashlee . Every day, Ree makes sure her siblings2 eat, while teaching them basic survival skills like hunting and cooking. The family is very poor. Rees father, Jessup, has not been home for a long time and his whereabouts are unknown. He is out on bail3 following an arrest for manufacturing methamphetamine.
The sheriff tells Ree that if her father does not show up for his court date, they will lose the house because it was put up as part of his bond. Ree sets out to track down her father, who put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared. If she fails, Ree and her family will be turned out into the Ozark woods. Challenging her outlaw4 kins code of silence and risking her life, Ree hacks5 through the lies, evasion6 and threats offered up by her relatives and begins to piece together the truth.
Winters Bone received widespread critical acclaim7. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 157 reviews, for an average score of 8.3/10. The sites consensus8 reads, Bleak9, haunting, and yet still somehow hopeful, Winters Bone is writer-director Debra Graniks best work yet - and it boasts an incredible, starmaking performance from Jennifer Lawrence.
Winters Bone debuted10 in cinemas in mid-June 2010, with its opening weekend generating a hearty$84,797 on four screens; the movies subsequent outing and expansion to 39 total venues11 yielded sales of $351,317 . The films distributors Roadside Attractions aimed, concurrently12 with New York, Los Angeles and Boston, at heartland cities such as Minneapolis, Overland Park, St. Louis, Springfield, Dallas and Denver, which eventually all attracted significant audiences, surpassing New Yorks. According to the distributor, the filmmakers had always wanted to deliver the movie to the people who helped them make it. As of March 2011, the film had grossed over$6.5 million in domestic ticket sales and $7.3 million internationally.
The film won several awards including the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic Film at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. It also received four 2011 Academy Award nominations13: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor.
