Winter's Bone

WINTER'S BONE (2010) - Dec. 27, 2010
About a determined young girl who decides to track down her father after she finds out that she'll lose her home if he doesn't show up in court.  The film unfolds at a fairly meticulous pace, but it remains compelling throughout -- there's something kind of fascinating about the insular, forested community in which everyone seems to be distantly related.  The performances are uniformly pretty great, particularly Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes.  I also really liked the sparse, almost hard-boiled dialogue.  Good stuff.  ***1/2