Hawkeye Hunts Again

Rating: 9/10 (3 September 2018)

But the Witch ain't be witchin'.
I typed in the simple search: Best Westerns on Netflix. Signs this list is corrupt, or gulp!, 45 is right about Google, recommendation #6 was Adam Sandler's atrocious The Ridiculous 6. But, mercifully, #7 was this movie and they were right with this one!
When I was a kid, I *HATED* Westerns. In the 90s, as I grew, that changed, but only a hand-selected few, like Unforgiven and Dances With Wolves, two of my favorite Westerns and all-time movies. As I got much older, I really started to dig the genre and especially the subgenre: the neo-western, or modern western(?) like No Country for Old Men and Hell or High Water. Frankly, I like both versions equally and a lot: the ones set in the olden days and the modern westerns with all the tropes still in place today.
This film, is the latter group, unbeknownst to me and it did NOT disappoint.
Hunter Hawkeye, well, Veteran Hunter, Cory, returns to his ex-wife's reservation to find/kill lions. Instead, he's thrust into a conspiracy involving a rape, murders, hush people and a lone FBI agent way out of her league.
This movie is beautiful, enormously well-acted, awesomely scripted and though slow at times, it kept me on the edge of my seat. This setting isn't too far from Fargo, but you'll get the same vibes at times.
I've been a fan of Jeremy Renner for about two decades and when I saw he was in this, I worried he would be a distraction. Like I'd ONLY see "Jeremy Renner" and not Sheriff Joe or whomever he played. NOPE...he was wonderful in this and I totally bought him and the rest of the cast. Well, maybe not so much FBI Agent and fellow Avenger, Elizabeth Olsen. She was such a fish-outta-water, she never did it for me with the other perfectly casted actors.
Don't get me wrong. This is a near-perfect film and I adored every minute of it. Helps, I love, again, Modern Westerns, and the snow - you'll feel every bit of the snow here. HIGHLY recommended and I can't wait to see this again.
***
Final thoughts: THAT ALL SAID...I'm beginning to think they have a database of cowboy/country/western/location names to choose from when creating a Western movie. This movie had almost zero to do with Wind, Rivers or the actual Wind River place I'm not even sure if we saw.