_**A hell of a Thanksgiving in northern Michigan**_

After a heist in Michigan, a killer and his little sister (Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde) take different paths in the snowy wilderness just before Thanksgiving. An ex-con (Charlie Hunnam) who happens to be fleeing authorities in Detroit meets the girl on the way to his parents’ remote farmhouse (Kris Kristofferson & Sissy Spacek). Meanwhile the cops are on their trail (Treat Williams & Kate Mara). Who will survive the holiday?

“Deadfall” (2012) is a wintery crime thriller in the mold of “Fargo” (1996), “A Simple Plan” (1998) and “Wind River” (2017). It’s the least of these due to contrivances and occasional bad scripting, like the police chief’s eye-rolling verbal abuse of his daughter (I’m not saying mistreatment like this doesn’t occur, just that it could be written & executed more convincingly).

Yet the snowy, sylvan landscapes are great and the thrills are constant. Plus there are some interesting neo-noir dramatic threads and you can’t beat the notable cast, including the striking Olivia (who looks like she needs to eat some hamburgers).

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in Quebec, in areas outside Montreal.

GRADE: B-/B