CMFH Film Reviews

2008, USA
Drama
Review by Deborah Dearth

READ THE REVIEW AT The Desert Sun.
Extended version:

Wendy and Lucy is an uplifting film for an uplifting economy. Sense the sarcasm in that statement, as there is none in director Kelly Reichardt's latest film which provides an unflinching look at folks trudging through rough times.

Reichardt received kudos for her 2006 indie, Old Joy, and does not disappoint with her third feature effort. Based on the short story by Jonathan Raymond (who also wrote Old Joy), the small film is executive produced by director Todd Haynes, who cast Michelle Williams in his film I'm Not There, helping her along her journey to climb out of the teendom lore of "Dawson's Creek" and into the respectable indie territory where Wendy and Lucy resides.

Williams has made her mark -- quietly, subtly, without the extreme dramatics that could earn her greater attention. As Wendy, she portrays a young woman with a map to Alaska in search of the mythological good job, at least one that will support her and her dog, Lucy. It is a dream that drives her from town to town, leaving behind an indifferent family in Indiana with their own concerns. As the goal is ticked off through her mileage counter, Wendy has little time to make acquaintances aside from picking up stray bits of advice from fellow nomads.

Her carefully planned and artfully afforded passage is yanked to a halt when her car breaks down, she is caught shoplifting and her dog Lucy is lost, all in one hopeless Oregon town. As her fragile world of mobility falls apart, she is forced to depend on the kindness of strangers, when available. Many of these moments are small and fleeting and interrupted by excessively enforced rules outweighed by their consequences.

When Wendy's car dies, it inconveniently does so in a guarded empty lot. When it needs to be moved across the street to the garage, she must pay the same towing charges as to move it across town. When she attempts to steal food for her hungry dog, she must leave the dog behind when the cops take her to the station for endless paperwork. Each rule compounds the problem that brought her to that point, pushing her escape to the road farther from her reach. The anxiety is palpable simply by observing Wendy's tribulations; little dialogue is required to display such a heavy heart.

Wendy and Lucy provides a delicate and respectful observation of those struggling independently but desperately in need of support and guidance. When a parking lot guard provides a phone to assist in Wendy's search for Lucy, he gives her a location -- the closest thing to a home despite being far removed from any concept of a homelife. The gesture does not alter her mindset, but it creates a small, welcome rift in a hardened world.