Winter's Bone

Impressions before seeing it
I thought Winter's Bone was going to be like a young girl's journey through the harsh wilderness with her family. Not sure why I thought that, because it was wrong.

How was it?
For some reason I was expecting adventure and excitement, but this is not that kind of movie. Basically - and this is an oversimplification - it's a teenage girl asking around her backwoods neighbourhood if anyone knows where her father is. There's more of a story than that, of course, but most of the scenes are exactly that. Definitely not a film for those with ADD. It sounds really boring, and to most people it might be, but what makes it good is Jennifer Lawrence's very natural performance as main character Ree, the 17 year-old girl struggling to take care of her family and not lose the house. She was easily likable for her braveness, work ethic, and responsibility, and thus very easy to root for. But there's not much else to say, because it was a slow movie.

Recommendation
Winter's Bone is like this year's Junebug: It would be incredibly lifeless without its lead actress. Actually, all of the acting was strong, but out of the eight Best Picture Nominees I've seen, I think this one's my least favourite.