Wind River

With all the problematic people out there in troubled situations, it's no wonder why Hollywood consistently writes films based on true stories or actual events. Why make something up when the truth is definitely stranger than fiction? We surely see this in "Wind River" where many lives are disrupted due to family tragedies.

This story, based on actual events, is a chilling thriller that follows   a rookie FBI agent, Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) who teams up with a local game tracker with deep community ties and a haunted past, Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) to investigate the murder of a local girl on a remote Native American Reservation in Wyoming called Wind River, in the hopes of solving her mysterious death. With the assistance of Police Chief Ben (Graham Greene) and a few others, both Cory and Jane run into one obstacle after another. Their obvious suspect, the girl's boyfriend, Matt (Jon Bernthal) isn't as obvious as they thought which muddies the investigation even more than they dreamed of. Who could've perpetrated such a heinous murder?

Others to round out the cast are Julia Jones as Wilma Lambert, Cory's ex-wife, Gil Birmingham as Martin, father of the murdered girl, Martin Sensmeier as Chip, son of Martin's, Kelsey Asbille as Natalie, James Jordan as Pete Mickens, Hugh Dillon as Curtis, Tokala Clifford as Sam Littlefeather, Althea Sam as Annie, Tyler Laracca as Frank and Teo Briones as Casey.

It was directed by a more seasoned writer, Taylor Sheridan ("Vile" '11). Considering this filmmaker's limited experience in the director's chair, this film was solid. The underlying emotions of the different characters was amazing and certainly realistic. He will definitely receive more directing work in the foreseeable future. It was also deftly written by Sheridan ("Sicario" '15, "Hell or High Water" '16). If I had to akin the feel of this to another film, it would be that of "Mystic River" '03. Both films presented different premises, however the intensities along with family tragedies both presented were quite similar. And the fact that neither film were not warm and fuzzy feeling films, made the similarity more apparent. While Sheridan is a newcomer to directing, he's certainly not a seasoned writer, however the work he's executed is high quality-- he earned an Academy Award nomination for his writing in "Hell or High Water".  He is a new modern writer that is surely a contender for future great work. If this writing is the level that pleases, his "Soldado" is in post production slated for a 2018 release.

Quality writing is like a high for me, and since I don't see an abundance of good writing, or even decent wring, it is certainly a pleasure to witness a fine crafted film. Again, you're not seeing this for the entertainment package--it's a bit of a downer, but the craft of the film is first rate. And with a great message about the Native American world that we, as a society, has everthing but forgotten, makes this a must see film.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                    Rated: R                                    107mins.