Review: Wind River Goes Off The Reservation
- Aug 16, 2017
- 2 min read
And it does it in a good way. Taylor Sheridan's big screen directorial debut is a haunting shot of reality, one that holds nothing back. Stepping from the writers chair to being behind the camera, Sheridan has crafted a modern Western that will surely stand the test of time.
Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), a hunter and tracker by trade, stumbles across the frozen corpse of an American Indian girl he once knew, frozen, stuck miles from the nearest semblance of humanity. When FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives on the scene, the two begin to uncover a plot hidden beneath decades of discrimination and fear.
Having written both Sicario and Hell Or High Water, Taylor Sheridan has shown he knows how a Western should sound and feel, and know he has shown he has it in him to make one himself. While the film is clearly given a modern setting, one that wholly suits its message, it's easy to draw parallels to the 1800's. Snowmobiles replace horses, there's cowboys and indians, Renner's character carries a revolver and a lever action rifle, there's Mexican standoffs, shootouts and, at its core, the frontier, though this time it's more of a moral one than a physical one,
It's also nice for Renner to have something to call his own, especially after his very samey roles in the Bourne, Mission Impossible and Avengers franchises. Elizabeth Olsen is equally good, and their time spent playing superheroes really pays off here. But it's worth mentioning that the film is hardly a pleasant one. The subject matter, the story and many of the characters are quite dark, and climax isn't pretty, but it is very good.
This one is easy to recommend. I admit I had my reservations (no pun intended) going in, and the story is somewhat predictable, but none of that takes away from what is just a really well done film that tackles a not often seen issue. Check this one out.
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