Take 35: Dead of Winter

In the thriller, Dead of Winter, Emma Thompson is Barb, an older woman who finds herself turned around in a snowy Minnesota wilderness. When she asks for directions from a shifty stranger, she is harshly rebuffed. She soon learns that the reason she is so abruptly sent away has to do with a secret in the basement. Barb soon finds herself at not only at odds with the perpetuators of a twisted plot, but agains the elements themselves.

Emma Thompson does a lot to elevate this movie. My goodwill towards her is strong, even since she was so-wronged in Love Actually so I am rooting hard for her here. Just because she’s playing an older woman, doesn’t mean she is helpless. She is giving a grown-up Kevin from Home Alone. But she’s not perfect- there are a couple of times where actions are just dumb. She’s got layers.

The other character that really worked for me was Camo,( Marc Menhchaca)the cantankerous, shifty stranger Barb encounters at the beginning of the movie. He is “don’t judge a book by its cover” personified. The character that he shows at the beginning is very different from what we get later which was surprising amongst so many one-dimensional characters.

This is pretty much where the good ends. To be fair, Judy Greer as the Purple Lady does a great job with the character. She IS an unsympathetic Karen who you instantly want bad things to happen to. The problem is, she is so unlikable, so one-dimensional that she’s not the least bit interesting. And again, that’s probably what you want for this character. I mean, she pit herself against Barb and does to some presto dastartdly stuff, so win???

It did take some risks- featuring an older, unglamorous female protagonist in the lead role—- awesome. An ending that many would probably find unsatisfactory, but logical- kudos. But is this something I’d rewatch ever or recommend? As one who suffers from Raynaud’s system, just watching people struggle through the cold, this was already agonizing to watch the first time, so most likely not. But it was well-acted and beautifully shot so that’s saying something. But not enough.

My score: 6.4. Mystery Movie Series, you got me again. Sigh.

Thing my take was D.O.A- tell me in the comments. And until next time…