Winter’s Bone

Michael the Moviegoer – @@@

Although I’m sure they’re two very different films, this trailer makes it look like it wants to be this year’s “Frozen River.” Not much about the plot is given away except that some guy who skipped out on his bail is being hunted by the local police. I love the creepy tone of the trailer. It shows that the film has great eerie cinematography among cold, gray and dead backwoods locations. No name stars are in the film, but quotes from many top critics keep flying at us. There’s a deep, serious urgency in the way this material is presented. It left me intrigued enough to want to see the film, but still a little uncertain as to whether it’s another “Frozen River” or another “Cabin Fever.”

Terrence the Trailer Trasher – @@@@

First of all, it’s not that the movie is trying to be “Frozen River” as much as it’s the Sundance jury gravitating toward the same type of movie from year to year. There’s a lot more to the plot revealed here. Instead of being a “very special episode” of “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” this focuses on the daughter who must hunt down her fugitive father or lose her house, which he put up against the bail he skipped out on. That’s gripping. It hooks me like crazy. Stories that deal with the peripheral victims of crime are so rare. Add in the spellbinding atmosphere and tone, and if it ends up resembling “Cabin Fever” in any way, I would be forced to sue the trailer makers.

Opens today in limited release.