Movie: Wind River

Wind River:  a mystery set on the Wind River Indian reservation in Wyoming.  The movie opens with a woman running barefoot through a bleak, snowy field at night.  We then meet Corey Lambert (Jeremy Renner), a U. S. Fish and Wildlife agent who also works as a hunter/tracker.  In his introductory scene, Lambert is lying on his belly camouflaged in the snow.  He is killing wolves that have been preying on sheep.  A bit later we see Lambert searching for a mountain lion that has killed a neighbor’s cattle.  This is when he discovers the body of an 18 year old Indian woman named Natalie (Kelsey Asbille Chow).  Lambert immediately recognizes Natalie as she was his teenage daughter’s best friend.  Natalie is the woman we saw running through the snow at the film’s opening.  We learn that three years earlier, Lambert’s daughter had been found dead under similar circumstances.  The balance of this excellent 111 minute story involves our learning what happened to Natalie while simultaneously glimpsing into life on an Indian reservation.  Because Natalie appears to have been murdered, the FBI is summoned to investigate.  It is the federal government which has jurisdiction over capital crimes on Indian reservations.  A rookie agent, Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olson), is sent to Wind River from Las Vegas.  She has not been advised as to the weather and must borrow the snow gear of Lambert’s late daughter.  Lambert and Banner develop a close relationship, which is presented without slopping over into a Hollywood romance.  As the story unfolds, cinematographer Ben Richardson offers beautiful shots of the Wyoming winter.  The cast of Wind River is small but includes some very strong, honest performances.  Gil Birmingham plays Natalie’s grieving father, Martin.  His screen time is relatively short but Oscar worthy.  Graham Greene as the Tribal Police Chief also offers a fine performance.  Renner is excellent, both as a grieving father and a professional hunter.  The bad guys are one dimensional but the storyline from writer/director Taylor Sheridan remains powerful.  Due to the cinematography, this superb movie is one that should be seen on the big screen. 

Movie: Menashe

Menashe:  an engaging story about a father and his son.  The film takes place in Brooklyn.  Menashe (Menashe Lustig) is a widower whose wife died about 11 months ago.  Although the wife is frequently part of the film’s conversation, she never makes an appearance; we’re not even shown a photo of her with one brief exception, a cell phone picture.  Menashe’s son, Rieven (Ruben Niborski), is about 11 years old.  When the film opens, Rieven is living with his uncle and his family because the Rabbi (Meyer Schwartz) believes a child should live with a family and Menashe is not interested in remarrying.  Menashe and almost all the characters in this film are Hasidic Jews.  As such, the Rabbi’s Talmud perspective that a good man should have “ a good wife, a good home, nice dishes” is the governing principal that drives this 82 minute film.  Menashe is directed and co-written by Joshua Z. Weinstein and the film is about Menashe’s attempts to regain custody of his son without remarrying.  There is only one date scene in the movie and I doubt it lasted even five minutes.  Scenes of females speaking total less than 5 minutes.  The story is authentic; it is based upon the actor Menashe Lustig’s own life and is about the Hasidic life style as much as it is about Menashe and Rieven.  Most of the dialogue is in Yiddish with very readable English subtitles.  Menashe is an ordinary guy working in a supermarket, but because he is an appealing person, the film works.  If you are interested in seeing a slice of Hasidic life, you should see this film.