Wendy and Lucy ***1/2

Released 2008.
Directed by Kelly Reichardt.
Written by Jonathan Raymond.
With Michelle Williams, Will Oldham, John Robinson and John Breen.
Seen on DVD.

This is a very lovely film in its simplicity. The acting is restrained and subdued and the story is heart wrenching.

A young girl, Wendy (Williams) and her dog Lucy are travelling cross country from Hammond Indiana to Alaska to take advantage of some perceived lucrative work opportunities. It's implied that she is moving to better her life and not for adventure or short term, between semesters work. She's a girl on the margins of society, yet not completely down and out as she has a car and some cash to help her make it there. It's clear that she was not in good financial shape previous to the trip because in a desperate phone call to her sister and brother-in-law, they tell her that they can do nothing to help her and seem, especially her sister, unsympathetic. Her car breaks down in Portland Oregon and she finds herself stuck there for a while. When she goes to the store to pick up a few items, she attempts to shop lift some very minor items and is taken to the police station. Meanwhile her dog disappears and the rest of the film is about her search for her dog (Lucy) a la "The Bicycle Thief" and her attempts to get her car functioning. Like the neo-realism of the post war Italian films.

This film is a realistic portrayal of people on the edge of losing it all. It's easy to see how one can be homeless and destitute. We're all just a stone's throw away from poverty. Ok, those with less education anyway are much more susceptible to it. Even in today's economy, if a white class worker loses his job, he or she usually has something stowed away (excepting present company - If I were to lose my job, I might end up on the streets).

My eight year old daughter watched it with me (she's been mentioned before in other films I've discussed and is always an interesting measure of a film's quality) She "liked" it though she thought it was sad. I suspect she is struggled with the fact that she liked it at the same time as she was being made sad by it. It's also a testament to the simplicity of the story if she could follow and understand it well enough to appreciate it.



And here is an interview with the director and actor.