"You are looking for clues, but you are missing all the signs"

Rating: 8/10 (19 August 2017)

"Wind River" (2017 release; 107 min.) brings the story of Wildlife Officer Cory Lambert. As the movie opens, reminding us "Inspired By Actual Events", we briefly see a woman running for her life in the snow. We then are introduced to Lambert, who is hunting down wolves. Lambert visits his ex, where he picks up his young son for the day. Lambert then visits the parents of his ex, as their life stock has been attacked, possibly by a lion. In the course of starting his investigation, Lambert finds the frozen body of the woman we saw running for her life. Because it looks like a possible homicide, an FBI agent is called. At this point we're 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this movie marks the second directing stint of highly praised writer (and erstwhile actor) Taylor Sheridan, whose previous two movies, 2015's "Sicario" and last year's "Hell or High Water", were among the top movie of the year for me. "Wind River" is for me one of the most anticipated movies of the year, period. With "Wind River", Sheridan goes in a very different direction again as compared to "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water", digging into a murder mystery, set in an Indian reservation in snow-covered Wyoming. Jeremy Renner brings perhaps his finest performance of his career as the Wildlife hunter/tracer Cory Lambert, who himself carries a heavy secret. Elizabeth Olsen is Jane Banner, the wide-eyed inexperienced FBI agent who is in way over her head but is determined to do what is right. "You are looking for clues but you are missing all the signs", remarks Lambert early on, and she begs him to help her. And there are plenty of potential suspects--it's not a coincidence that this is set in a community that has more than its share of crime and misery. Sheridan leads with confidence as the tension in the movie rarely lets up. Bottom line: this is another nice movie from Tayalor Sheridan, who in just a matter of a few years has become one of Hollywood most accomplished writer-directors. Can't wait for his next movie, "Soldado", a sequel to "Sicario", to be released next year.
"Wind River" opened this weekend at my local art house theater here in Cincinnati on not one, but two screens, a rarity. The Saturday matinée screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely for a matinée. I imagine that "Wind River" will benefit from the strong word-of-mouth that this will surely generate. If you are in the mood for a top-notch mystery drama with some stellar performances, you cannot go wrong with "Wind River" be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Wind River" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!