Wendy and Lucy

This film is about a woman whose car broke down, has little money and has lost her dog who is her only companion. "Wendy and Lucy" is a very minimalistic film. It has no background music, uses still camera with little camera work, undecorated sets and unglamorous costumes. This makes it very boring. This is further aggravated by a boring plot with an ultra slow pacing. Wendy is not a sympathetic character, I do not care about her, and in fact I dislike her. Three minutes of walking the dog, and three minutes of Wendy sleeping in the woods in the dark is not entertaining. Acting is not particularly brilliant, and I disagree with some claims that Michelle Williams may be a possible Oscar contender for the best actress. I tried to think of nice ways to comment on this film, but it is so dull and boring that I could not say anything nice about it.

I find it very funny that there are two types of User Comments for this film. One set that seem to be written by either the film's publicity staff and a few other people that must have seen it at film festivals. Who all give it glowing reviews. Then those of us who are either Michelle Williams fans, read some of the glowing reviews or both. We all hated it!!! Hated it!!! Films like this one are the very reason why the Independent film scene is quickly bottoming out. Produced with the help of "Indie" stars like Todd Haynes (who I love by the way) and directed by film professor from NYU and Bard it obviously got special treatment by the film festivals and quickly celebrated by the film critics who spend all of their time attending these festivals. Which might be why they think this piece of tripe is "realistic". Because they have never lived outside of their own little specialized world. This film has so many problems but the biggest one is the stupidity of the lead character. It is hard to feel any sympathy for a character who doesn't do one single thing that makes sense. Only someone mentally impaired or an addict/alcoholic would do the things Wendy does in this film. But it is obvious that the filmmakers do not want to go down that road. They want to paint Wendy as some kind of "every woman" and so the eschew any kind of back story that would explain Wendy's behavior. But that's a cop out. Its bad story telling and worse yet lazy and dishonest. All you have know is that Wendy is on a budget and yet she's driving to Bellingham, WA north of Seattle, to get to Alaska from Indiana. And yet, she drives through Salt Lake City and ends up in Oregon. I'm from Seattle and when I told my Mom about this film she stopped me mid-diatribe and said "Why is she driving south to go north?" Exactly!!! And that's not even the half of it. Every decision Wendy makes is flat out dumb and illogical. Now I thought that the filmmaker who was from New York just plain didn't do her research, but one of the Comments describes the director speaking at Cannes and saying she did extensive research and drove all over with "Lucy" her dog. That tells me she wanted to film in Oregon for other reasons and just abandoned her character to the whims of where she wanted to film. Lazy, sloppy, bad film-making! Arrogant and insulting towards the audience as well. I could go on and on about how dumb this film is, but others have already done it. What really bugs me though is the film critics who have raved about this film. And what bugs me even more is the many, many critics who claim this film says something about how America treats people on the margins of society and the Bush years. There are people who have it tough in America. But this film has nothing to say about that. Those people are at the Jobs Centers across the country waiting to use computers to get jobs. They're spending a day in line to register for Food Stamps to feed their families. A person as stupid as Wendy would have a tough time living in Denmark and it is a disservice to compare this stupid fictional character to those who really are struggling. Wendy is that girl at a Widespread Panic show who spent all her money to make cheese sandwiches for sale and then leaves them unattended while she plays hacky sack and a raccoon family eats them all. Stupid, lazy, crappy movie. A total waste of film.

Wendy (Michelle Williams) is a young woman down on her luck. Unspecified troubles have led her to make her way from Indiana to Oregon in a late-Eighties Honda Accord she's been told has a serpentine belt that isn't going to last much longer. Her sole companion is her golden brown mixed breed dog, Lucy (played by the director's dog, Lucy, who also was in her acclaimed first feature, Old Joy). She's headed for Alaska to make fast money in a Ketchikan fish cannery. In a park the first evening she hangs with some young people. One guy tells her she's got the right idea. There's good money up there in the canneries. He also admits he got drunk one night and had to flee his Alaskan job after wrecking a piece of conveyor equipment worth $100,000. She sleeps in the car, but is awakened by a guard (Wally Dalton) who tells her she can't sleep there and has to move the vehicle. It won't go. As the Cannes synopsis goes, from then on "the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she faces a series of increasingly dire challenges." Indeed, this is the case. Wendy already may not have enough cash to make it up to Alaska if all goes well (she repeatedly looks at a page where she calculates her dwindling supply of dollars). When the major car issue arises, she may not even have enough to feed Lucy with. The news she gets from the garage man (veteran actor Will Patton) is decisive, anyway. Then she has a bad encounter with a young store employee (John Robinson of Van Sant's Elephant and Lords of Dogtown), and from then on things slowly but surely go downhill. The end of the film is not the end, however. There's no knowing how life will go for Wendy. The power of the film, which is painful and devastating to watch, lies in its nearly real-time effect as it delineates the transition from one level of marginality to several notches down. Williams is quietly convincing, but not spectacular, in her performance as Wendy. By joint agreement, she plays Wendy, as Reichardt put it in a press conference, "very buttoned-down." The only person who seems to keep her from despair is the kindly security guard. Only once does she show violent emotion, after a terrifying encounter in the woods, which the director said may represent a vision of her future. Will she become like that crazy hobo (Larry Fessenden) herself, or just be thrown in with his kind? The film, which was shown in the Un Certain Regard series at Cannes this year, is the result of long planning by Reichardt, who lives in New York, including many miles logged in her car with Lucy by her side looking for locations. During the 21-day shoot, she knew the Portland settings so well she directed the DP on shots. The result is many classic images of generic regional Americana, vacant lots, drugstores, a supermarket, which in their colors and angles recall the poetically banal Seventies and Eighties color photographs of Stephen Shore, which is to say that there's a keen eye here. Reichardt seems to have a rare sense of how even white Americans very often come to live on the margins. In a time of economic crisis, this is a relevant story. The director, who confirms here that she has a distinctive vision, excels at careful observation and specific regional settings. The presence of the by now high profile Michelle Williams should help this second feature to gain Reichardt a larger audience. As with Old Joy, Reichardt's writing collaborator was Jonathan Raymond, who was an assistant to Todd Haynes on Far From Heaven. The film, based on a short story by Raymond, has been bought by Oscilloscope Pictures and will open at Film Forum in New York December 10th. It's part of the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, September 2008.

Kelly Reichardt's ("Old Joy") new film holds our interest for its 80 running minutes thanks to Michelle Williams's captivating performance. The story of Wendy (Williams), who hits the road with her dog Lucy intending to get to Alaska and start a new life, is too vague and minimalist to work as a feature. As a character study, it's underwritten; as a social commentary on our current crisis, it's too shallow and naïve. Had Reichardt gone deeper into any of these directions, her movie would be much more interesting; the way it is, it feels like one of those shorts that went on for too long when they could've been more concise. Maverick filmmaker Todd Haynes ("Velvet Goldmine", "Far from Heaven", "I'm Not There.") and the promising Phil Morrison (director of the sublime "Junebug") are some of the movie's producers, which shows Reichardt has her own admirers. Let's just hope that, next time, she finishes her job. 5.5/10.

Man, I'm a sucker for this kind of picture. Realism. A movie about real people, in real situations, just like you and me. No frills, no fantasy, no flash. It's not that I don't like movies with these elements in them; It's that a prefer movies without them. I like Michelle Williams without the make-up - just a waif caught in a tough situation in a generic Americana setting. It looks like a small town, but I see the credits say it's Portland Oregon. I'm also a sucker for trains, so I loved all the train shots. Is there a symbolism to the trains? Funny how many times a forlorn train horn is heard nearby, punctuating the quiet desperation of Wendy's plight. I loved the security guy (Wally Dalton) - he shows us there's hope no matter what the situation.....there really is always someone who cares. I sure hope Wendy makes it to Alaska; she deserves to. For those who like this one, you'll like a similar movie I viewed just a few days previous; it has a similar pace, and feel as this one, and a storyline with a little more tension: "Frozen River". Catch it if you can.

Do not watch this movie. It is not emotional. It is not in the artistic side too - even if you find it that way - there is less possibility you're going to enjoy it. This is simply not for fun. Also, it is not a story you'd like to go for or which will make you feel heartfelt. Don't go for it.

I had the unfortunate displeasure of sitting through this film. One word that comes to mind; terrible. Michelle Williams plays lead role Wendy, an out of work 20 something driving across country to find work in Alaska in a fish canary. Wendy is kept company by her trusty companion Lucy, a golden brown dog of unspecified breed. Wendy gets stuck in an Oregan town (unspecified) as her car breaks down and she has limited means to pay for repairs. Quickly running out of money to make it to Alaska, Wendy decides to shop lift from a local supermarket to feed her dog Lucy. After being caught shoplifting Wendy is separated from the dog and spends much of the rest of the film time trying to find her. The film captures the hopelessness of an individual fractured from society and seemingly without prospects. Also captured here is the internal erosion of middle America and the dislocation of its youth. What is lacking is any type of empathy for the character; we never really get to care what happens to the character. The film never makes Wendy's background clear so it is hard to sympathise with her plight, which descends from bad to worse due to the poor decisions made by Wendy. This is a very bleak film without sole or purpose. Do not expect any insight, enlightenment or entertainment if you are able to sit through 80m odd minutes of this rubbish posing as an indie film.

Wendy & Lucy follows a nearly impoverished young woman on her quest to Alaska where she hopes to find some decent work. Travelling and living in her ancient, run-down car disaster hits when said car breaks down and her only friend (a dog named Lucy) disappears forcing her to stay stagnant in a tiny town. That's about all that can be said for the plot and about the movie as well. At the q & a for the screening I attended, Kelly Reichardt (the director) briefly talked about how she wanted to capture the struggles that millions of Americans are going through, finding themselves one misplaced dollar, or accident, away from complete disaster. The movie definitely portrayed these things but there was nothing I felt I could really latch onto to make me feel for the title character. Michelle Williams turns in a decent performance but the movie really drags her down; we all know what's going to happen to her but it sure feels like it takes forever for her to get there. The slow, methodical pace and almost complete lack of any characters aside from Wendy doesn't help in this respect. The movie is only about 80 minutes long and it felt twice that. Production values weren't so good but it's hard to criticize that as the film was obviously made on a tiny shoe-string budget. I'm honestly miffed as to why this film got such great critical reviews. With the American recession more and more people are struggling with poverty in the same way Wendy does but just because it's realistic doesn't mean it's a good film.

Is there no more great frontier? Has time run out on those who look west to a better tomorrow? 'Wendy and Lucy' is a small movie with its scope set on a larger, subtle target. Soft-spoken but very admirable, Kelly Reichardt has crafted a touching story of one girl's endless search for her dog. On the road to Alaska in search for better economic opportunity, Wendy finds herself in a small Oregon town where its citizens seem to live on the fringe of poverty long after job-providing factories have closed up shop. Keeping track of every penny she spends, Wendy's car suddenly won't start. And after an attempt to shoplift a bit of food sidelines her, she loses track of Lucy. A dog, a companion, and her best friend. A determined Wendy searches for Lucy in every nook and cranny. Played by a quiet Michelle Williams, this is a subdued performance but a strong one. A portrait of loneliness, of heartbreak. She lives a life far from fortunate, but she holds her head high and looks to Alaska for hope. And in a small neighborhood where her situation seems to only go from bad to worse, Wendy has nobody to rely on but a friendly elderly security guard. Giving her a sense of moral support she probably is in desperate need for, we expect emotion. But staring panic in the face, Wendy remains strong. Her first moment of visible emotional anguish and vulnerability comes after a terrifying encounter in a forest in the middle of the night. A glimpse into her future as a vagabond? 'Wendy and Lucy' comes at a time when our own economy is in a state of perpetual free fall, which helps Reichardt drive her timely message home. It is these often seemingly mundane and unimportant everyday activities that may cause the film to drag, though it comes in at a slim 80 minutes. But it is these events that help the film and Williams find personality. 'Wendy and Lucy' asks us to be strong, to stick with our character. And it offers an ending that will pull at the heartstring of even the most hardened cynic. A tough, very challenging situation you and I would never want to find ourselves in. It speaks of conviction, of doing the right thing even when it's impossibly difficult. Raw but surprisingly gripping, Reichardt does much with little. It's a touching picture, a bittersweet one. 'Wendy and Lucy' may feel minor, but it's a fine piece of beautifully told cinema. A snapshot that gains more appreciation upon reflection. More reviews: rottentomatoes.com/vine/journal_view.php?journalid=219276&view=public

As much as I think this film is both memorable and worth seeing, there were a few too many missing elements and underdeveloped story parts. In some ways, it ends up coming off as the "don't leave home" version of a "don't do drugs" film for teens. The biggest complement I can give this film is that the realism of views, and in some cases beauty, sticks with you. That has to do almost entirely because of how well it's filmed, the imagery it captures. To the actors' credit, everyone is believable and there are no cliché characters. Another interesting aspect of the film is the soundtrack - or essentially the lack thereof. It's integrated into the film, fits the mood of the story, and very memorable.