The last third makes the first third completely worth it.

Rating: 7/10 (19 November 2018)

Wind River (2017)
The setting here will suck you in immediately-remote Wyoming, high mountains and rough uncouth men and a handful of principled good people to keep it steady. The leading man, Jeremy Renner, is superb. He plays Cory, who is strong, thoughtful, but not over the top into cliche, a fish and wildlife mountain man, of sorts. His job is to kill predators like wolves and mountain lions that are intruding on civilization. (This alone sets a one that is filled with contradictions.)
But then a murder happens (of a human being) and things get intertwined with Indians on the Rez and with an FBI agent sent to deal with the conflicint authorities (fed land, local cops, Indian land, etc.). This will seem like a huge weak point because the FBI agent comes off as a terrible stereotype we should all scream against-the incompetent blonde woman over her head. Elizabeth Olsen, unfortunately, is not even quite good at projecting that stereotype.
It somehow survives this stumble, however, and if you get past that half hour of the agent and the hero coming to work together (without any sense of impending romance, by the way), the movie grows and gets more subtle. And as Renner gets more convincing and intense, so does Olsen, as she gets roughed up emotionally and isn't as green or arrogant as she first appears when rolling up her window in the car (you'll see).
Then, to my surprise, the movie turns into a great movie. The last half hour adds lots of nuance even as it gets violent and ugly. It becomes a moving tale of resolution, dreams, mourning, the passing of tradition, the debauchery of lonely men, and the strength within some of us. Yes, maybe I overstate, but it's all there, in pieces.
A warning, perhaps. There are two violent scenes near the end. One is with guns and is quite exciting, for that kind of good guy/bad guy stuff. The other is an assault (which is implied at the very beginning) that is painful and for me not quite necessary. I see why they included it, but it could have been implied instead, or deflected a little. But for people who might find this disturbing-it is.
Expect a well made movie that builds and justifies itself by the end.