There’s an “almost, not quite” quality to Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River, a thriller with great potential that gets lost thanks to its oblique
narrative. It surely isn’t a lack of
talent on the screen that’s to blame as the cast assembled is first rate. The script by Sheridan, who penned last
year’s Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water, is built around a run-of-the-mill
murder mystery, a rather simplistic story he pads with clumsy characterization
and obvious social commentary. There’s more fat than meat here and cutting to
the heart of the matter proves a frustrating viewing experience.
Jeremy Renner is Cory Lambert, a Wyoming Fish and Wildlife
officer who gets sucked into a murder investigation on the Wind River Indian
Reservation. Out hunting wolves one day,
he stumbles upon the body of a young woman named Natalie (Kelsey Asbille). This hits close to home for Lambert as his
daughter, who was best friends with the murdered girl, died under mysterious
circumstances as well. The FBI sends
Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olson) to investigate.
Though well meaning, this rookie alienates the Native American
community, yet Lambert reluctantly comes to her aid, knowing that getting to
the bottom of this murder is of prime importance.
Sheridan’s dialogue remains well written but the narrative
devices he employs are dog-eared and tired.
The old pro showing the new kid on the block the ropes, the continued
abuse of the Native American culture by the US government and industry, and the
red herring murder suspect are all clichéd plot lines that Sheridan simply can’t
breath new life into. Compounding things
is the slow pace, as the story is told in a very deliberate manner, while
needless diversions are hammered into place that prevent the film from building
up a good head of steam. While
reflective moments amongst characters have their place, scenes in which people
ponder their fate or rue their past are too plentiful here and, as a
consequence, take the viewer out of the story far too often.
Stepping behind the camera for only the second time,
Sheridan proves adept at filming and staging believable action sequences while
his camera placement and staging of simple dialogue driven scenes is engaging
as well. The cast does a fine job and
proves watchable even when the story starts to meander. Renner’s convincing at
the haunted Lambert, while Olson’s earnest approach towards Banner holds her in
good stead. Dances with Wolves alums Graham Greene and Tantoo Cardinal, as
well as Gil Brimingham of the Twilight films are on hand to provide solid
support.
There’s nothing wrong with Wind River that another rewrite
or two couldn’t have fixed. Greater depth to the main characters, a
questionable coincidence thrown out here and there as well as clearer lines in
explaining connections between the characters would have helped bring more
clarity to the whole. As it is, Wind
River is a film that takes far too long getting to its predictable outcome.
This article appears in Aug 10-16, 2017.
