WIND RIVER is a complex character nuanced murder mystery film.   The characters drive the movie and the setting of the Wind River Indian Reservation (in Wyoming) paints a problematic place where some people have not much to do which leads to all kinds of trouble.   Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent who discovers the boy 18 year old Natalie Hanson which draws him into a murder investigation where he is helping rookie FBI Special Agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) in wintertime conditions.  Finding the truth can be dangerous as Cory vows to find out what drover Natalie to run out into the cold without protective clothing and freeze to death.  The suspect list turns to an oil drilling place and Native Americans in a broken down trailer home.   The death of Natalie also ties into the daughter that Cory couldn’t save years before and caused a rift in the relationship with his ex-wife.

WIND RIVER lets the characters drive the story instead of trying to tell a cookie cutter murder mystery.   You get to see character development of people who have their problems in their lives.   The setting is a character in itself along with showing the problems that exist on an Indian reservation and what people do when they are living in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do.   Director Taylor Sheridan has created an interestingly complex character film and it doesn’t go the easy route.  It feels like you’re seeing the lives of the characters in the movie like they’re real.   If you’re looking for more in a mystery movie, WIND RIVER is one you should watch.

This review is ©9-21-2017 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

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