Olsen, ‘Wind River’ provide much-needed warmth at frigid Sundance

PARK CITY, Utah — I once broke my foot walking across my carpeted living room, and two years ago I gave myself a concussion while wrapping Christmas presents.

Needless to say, I’m not about to try skiing, so my experiences with snow since moving to Vegas 13 years ago have been limited at best.

That’s why the character I’ve identified with most so far at Sundance is Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen), the young FBI agent in the exceptional “Wind River.” She shows up at a crime scene on an Indian reservation in the snowy wilderness of Wyoming, after flying in straight from the Las Vegas field office, and can’t even fathom how cold and hazardous it is.

She has to borrow snow gear, because the 6-mile snowmobile ride to the scene would literally kill her.

“I’m not sure this is the movie I would want to watch at 9 a.m.,” writer-director Taylor Sheridan said while introducing Sunday morning’s screening. “But I thank you for being here.”

He wasn’t kidding.

Corey Lambert (Jeremy Renner), the local Fish and Wildlife tracker whose job is to kill predators that kill or threaten livestock, discovers the frozen, barefoot corpse of a sexually assaulted 18-year-old Native American girl miles from anywhere. Completely out of her element, Banner asks for his help in tracking a different kind of predator.

It’s a remarkable, surprising film from Sheridan, the writer of “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water.” And it’s anchored by a terrific performance by Renner, who shares a great rapport with his “Avengers” co-star Olsen.

But I couldn’t help thinking about all the snow onscreen, and the cold that was so brutal, it caused the girl’s death by making her lungs fill with blood and burst as she fled her attackers.

It’s not THAT bad here in Park City. It just feels like it.

Main Street, where most of the festival’s activities take place, is a relatively steep hill, so walking either direction in the slush and ice is an adventure even in rugged boots. Yet there are still women who attempt it in high heels.

My hotel is roughly 30 minutes away in Salt Lake City, although I suppose I could have done like many here who are paying $100 or more a night to share a condo with anywhere from three to nine others and sleep on an air mattress. But I’m a grown man.

Since I haven’t driven on snow in so long, I didn’t dare rent a car. Besides, despite its name, there’s virtually no parking in Park City. There’s an efficient network of shuttles throughout the town, but the snow can cause massive delays. One shuttle showed up so late, I was one of the last five people let in — while dozens were left out in the cold — to see “The Yellow Birds,” the war drama starring Jennifer Aniston, Toni Collette and future young Han Solo, Alden Ehrenreich.

The only downside to not having a car is playing the world’s worst game show: “The Price Is Wrong,” aka “The Uber Price Surge Guessing Game.”

When I was ready to leave Saturday night, the fare, which is typically $30, was listed at $150. Because I love my job and want to keep it, I waited around awhile, only to see it jump to $225 — more than my flight here.

Then a few moments later, when I had just about resigned myself to sleeping in the bus station, the fare plummeted to $52. It felt like winning “Wheel of Fortune” and leaving with Vanna White.

Still, it could’ve been worse. Saturday’s snowstorm made for a nearly two-hour commute, but at least it was at base fare.

The passengers my driver was picking up as soon as he let me out were paying 10 times the base fare.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @life_onthecouch.