Based on Daniel Woodrell's novel, 'Winter's Bone' tells of 17-year-old backwoods Ozarks girl named Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) who needs to get her missing meth-cooking father to a court date or her family will lose their log-cabin-style home because he jumped bail. The film incorporates an insightfully sociological sense of place yet doesn't get bogged down by it. Grade: B-plus.  

Debra Granik's 'Winter's Bone' stands in stark relief to this summer's more bombastic fare. Taking in its elemental pleasures, you feels as though you're entering a parallel cinematic universe in which the simple inflection of a character's voice or the crack of a tree branch have the ability to impart more tension than a dozen CGI-driven multiplex thrillers put together. Granik spoke with CityBeat about the Sundance Film Festival's influence on her career, the casting of Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role and the dramatic power of gnarly trees.