Review of the film Down To The Bone

Snakes are interesting creatures gifted with bone structures most alien compared to that of the human skeletal system. Their skulls consist of complete and solid brain cases but are hinged loosely to the bones of the jaw, allowing for the ingesting of prey larger than the reptiles doing the ingesting. The vertebral column of snakes are composed of 200 to 400 vertebrae and allow them to bend and undulate, unimpeded by their lack of limbs. Most snakes, when killing their victims, use a combination of sharp bite and constriction to subdue before swallowing their prey whole.

The outstanding film Winter's Bone by Director Debra Granik chilled me with its stark realism and the dignity and intelligence of the female lead. The movie garnered great attention for the director and it's then unknown star, Jennifer Lawrence. Before this, Director Granik had quietly but definitively broken onto the scene with another powerful and realistic depiction of a troubled but strong woman confronted with the worst life has to offer. The film is called Down To The Bone based on her award-winning short Snake's Feed and left me quite astounded with its gravity.

Vera Farmiga plays Irene, a grocery cashier, wife and mother of two in upstate New York who goes to great pains to believe her cocaine addiction does not lead her life. She skims along the surface of her life, sometimes wildly happy with coke in her system, and other times desperately crying because her dealer will not accept her son's birthday check from his grandmother in exchange for a fix. This last episode snaps her into entering drug rehab. There she meets a male nurse named Bob who seems to understand her desire to live her life drug free and may also feel something for her. But when she returns to the real world again after only a week of being clean it is obvious that this will be a battle Irene was not expecting.

Every day, every moment, is dictated by addiction and it's hunger within Irene. She may have gone a week without using, but she will forever be an addict. This is a film where you see the inner workings of a person; her life is happening right before us. There are no flashy time lapses by Director Granik, and we are not sparred the discomforts of Irene's journey by smart camera angles or wild storytelling. She takes up a romance with the rehab nurse Bob. The fevered nature of their relationship challenges both their sobrieties, and, with the coming of winter, there is a downbeat playing out of events that seems as close to reality as anything currently on celluloid.

The film does not end tidily as these things never truly do. Irene reminds us that it is difficult to ever forget that which troubles us--that our minds find every reason not to forget. And, in fact, their natures are not to let go until we are swallowed whole.