Winter's Bone (2010): The little film that created a star
Winter's Bone, 2010, directed by Debra Granik, streamed on Paramount+, 4.5 stars. I guess I just wasn't paying attention. I can't think of any other reason why I missed this film in its day, or even why I had never even heard of it until now. I stumbled across it browsing through the menu at Paramount+ and put it in my watchlist because Jennifer Lawrence is prominent on the poster. But I am thrilled that I discovered it now. Better late than never, right? What a fantastic little indie film, and what a fantastic star-making performance by Ms. Lawrence. I didn't know until after I watched this that this was her first starring role -- and bagged her first Oscar nomination. I also learned after-viewing that this movie was a Best Picture nominee. Who knew? I didn't. I loved this movie start to finish. Lawrence brought the goods as a poverty-stricken 16-year-old girl raising her two younger siblings in rural Southwest Missouri, near my collegiate and young-adulthood stomp...