Wind River - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Wind River

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
They say that the loss of a child will bring just about any marriage to its knees. The statistics list up to an 80% chance of a marriage ending after a child’s death due to many factors, but the most important being that the sight of the other person floods the grieving spouse with all of the remembrances of that lost child. It’s incredibly difficult to come back from a loss when you’re face to face with a constant reminder day in and day out. Thus most marriages crumble inwards as the two people find a way to shield themselves from the brunt of that grief. An action which usually means getting as far away from their spouse as possible (as sad as that may seem on the surface). I’ve seen it happen between friends of mine, so I immediately recognized the signs in beleaguered Fish and Wildlife agent Cory Lambert. A man who has lost his own child to the harsh weather of the Wind River reservation up in Wyoming.

Director/Writer/Actor Taylor Sheridan, writer of both Hell or High Water and Sicario, continues his love affair with the modern western by crafting a bleak thriller about a murder up in Wind River, Wyoming. Cory Lambert is hunting a trio of mountain lions (who have killed local cattle), when he stumbles upon the body of Natalie (Kelsey Asbille), a friend of his deceased daughter, lying frozen and violated in the middle of nowhere. Calling in the local Tribal Police Chief, Ben (Graham Greene), his findings instigate the start of an FBI investigation. Sadly, the FBI send in Las Vegas agent, Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) to investigate. Jane is well meaning, but she doesn’t have the knowledge of the land, or the knowledge of the tribal people in the local. Meaning her involvement is going to end up with a whole lot of nothing unless she can get help from the locals. This help comes in the form of Cory, who agrees to act as her tracker and guide for the duration of her investigation. As events play out, the two dig deeper and deeper into Natalie’s trail until they find themselves face to face with the perpetrators.

Much of the film is played out with a dual narrative nature, as Taylor Sheridan is quite skilled at creating. The movie doesn’t clue you into the fact of Cory’s loss all at once, but the clues are thick and heavy as the first 35 minutes of the movie unfolds. We get to witness his greeting of his native American ex-wife at the beginning, and while the movie doesn’t come out and say it, you can see the loss and grief that has come over the couple. It’s not more than a short span of 20 minutes or so before you can tell that Cory has experienced the loss of a daughter as well (the reloading scene where his son comes in to visit him), allowing the audience to see the greater picture that Cory is about to play in this investigation. The second is the actual police procedural narrative involving Ben and Jane. The simple frustration of Jane at the seemingly inept and understaffed tribal police is palpable, but also slightly saddening as you watch two worlds collide. Two worlds that are after the same thing in the very end.

The wind up and great revelation of the perpetrators are very simple, but it’s the brutal execution (wink wink) that really makes it worth your while. Sheridan plays his cards out in the open, not really giving us whole lot of twists and turns, but rather allowing the unfolding of the investigation to keep our attention rather than try and trip us up with double backs and other film tricks. Instead creating a methodical pace that just goes straight for the finish line, much how he did when writing Hell or High Water. It’s this simplicity that seems jarring at first, but Sheridan weaves in that simple feeling of justice into his stories. Even if that form of justice seems to be at odds with the nature of law and order. Instead comfortable with us reveling in the sensation of frontier justice, much like the westerns he so obviously is emulating.

Renner is simply superb as Cory. He’s battle wear, slogged down with his own pain, but bulldoggish in the way he is willing to allow his own suffering to act as the fuel for completing his task. His obvious devotion for his ex and his son makes him all the more human, as we watch the hollow pain that seems to infect his soul. The same goes for Natalie’s father, Martin (Gil Birmingham), who gives one of the most heartbreaking and memorable performances of the entire movie. Graham Greene and Elizabeth Olsen are both solid in their roles, but this movie isn’t about performances standing out. Sheridan loves to make the best performances ones you don’t every really notice. Instead allowing them to peaceable intermingle with each other and create a somber film that stands on its own rather than highlighting one character over another. The ending is sweet and somber, with a slow windup to a violent end that seems to come out of nowhere, and then disappear just as quickly as it came. I’ve heard that the end shootout sucked some of the believable nature of the film, but I actually disagree. It fits right in with the sheer desperation and hopelessness that the wilderness survival film so blatantly portrays from the very moment you start watching.




Rating:

Rated R for strong violence, an assault, disturbing images, and language




Video:

Shot on Arri Alexa cameras, and finished with the standard 2K DI, Wind River looks incredibly detailed and accurate considering that it wasn’t a giant budgeted film. The bleak landscape is a mixture of slate blue and crystal clear whites, contrasting with raw sections of dirty ground and the color splattered humans that inhabit the wilderness. More often than not the white, snowy, countryside is exquisitely detailed, with flecks of snow falling around Jane and Cory, or the dirty footprints in the ground so clean and clear to the naked eye. The bright lights shine off the gleaming snow, an the darkness creates a cold blue environment that just feels chilly looking at it. Blacks are well done, and despite some moderate banding, shows one of the best looking digital pictures Lionsgate has done in recenter history.





Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is equally as impressive, showcasing a wonderful sense of directionality in the expansive landscape. The wide open Wyoming countryside allows from distant echoing gunshots to reverberate through the fronts to the rears, and there is some startlingly powerful LFE elements that just shake the walls with INCREDIBLE force at several points during the mysterious feeling score. Dialog is crisp and clean, and the whole sound stage is near impeccable. The simplicity of the movie breeds some quiet sections of the film where dialog is about the only noticeable element, but that is quickly surpassed the before mentioned intensity of the rest of the film.
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Extras:

• Behind-the-Scenes Video Gallery
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

If I have to claim fault with any part of the movie, it’s that Taylor Sheridan has a hard time really pulling the greatness from his script. He’s written some stunning films that have won major awards (Hell or High Water was one of my top 3 films of last year), but has a slight problem pushing his excellent script to true greatness. It’s a good film, and in many ways a VERY good film, but Wind River ultimately leaves you feeling like there was just this LITTLE bit more that could have been eked from the storytelling to make it truly incredible. That’s in no way a knock on what we saw, as Wind River really is a great watch, full of good performances and melancholy theme that just eats at your soul. Lionsgate does a fantastic job with the technical specs, with the only weak spot in the entire presentation being the limited extras. Worth a buy? In my book yes, and at the very least a good watch.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Kelsey Asbille, Julia Jones, Elizabeth Olsen
Directed by: Taylor Sheridan
Written by: Taylor Sheridan
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 110 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 14th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will try and catch this one on amazon prime/netflix.

 

[Todd Anderson]

This one has been on my radar, but I've been waiting for the M.E. stamp of excellence.

This one is on my watch list!

 

[Todd Anderson]

Mike ... was this released in 4K?

 

[Michael Scott]

no

 

[Todd Anderson]

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. I watched this movie sometime ago after I read your review. My wife and I really enjoyed it.

 

[Michael Scott]

glad you liked it