Film Review: Wind River

Wind River ends up being the weakest of Taylor Sheridan's recent trilogy of films the was preceded by Sicario and Hell or High Water.  This is the only one of the three that he both wrote and directed while the prior two he only wrote.

Its not the that Wind River is bad...its not.  Its actually darn good compared to most films, its just weak in comparison.

Jeremy Renner does a solid job as the US Fish and Wildlife officer with a backstory that gives him just the right motivation to be connected to the rest of the unfolding plot and is just damaged enough (divorced but loving husband and father who feels guilt over the death of his teen daughter) to have him brooding all film long.  Elizabeth Olsen is adequate as the fish out of water, urban FBI agent now investigating a crime in very rural Wyoming but doesn't carry enough weight to think that she would ever make it through the necessary training.

Overall the story can be seen as an allegory to the overall white man's raping of Indian culture, lands and people with here it being the oil company taking their resources and women.  The connection between the two though isn't heavy handed and the film is far more of a criminal procedural than it is a lecturing session.

My problems with it?  Just some odd items that get brought up and dropped or just plain don't make sense.  Olson's character, Jane, walks in on the mother of the murdered daughter cutting up her arms in grief and just closes the door and walks away--the poor woman is on the verge of bleeding to death and continuing to add to the score of cuts to her arms and you just quietly exit stage left without a comment?  Then there are some of the snowmobile scenes...Renner's character parks the snowmobile and says "we have to walk from here as the trees are too tight"....yet what are they following?  The tracks of another snowmobile the that somehow didn't have any issue with the trees...

So its just little things here.  Is it enjoyable?  Sure.  Is it great?  No.  Does it continue Sheridan's string of quality work?  Sure...just keep him at the pen and away from the camera.