LSIFF Day Two: Wendy and Lucy
by Steve Smith
If you are looking for a movie to make you feel a little better about living in a country where unemployment is rising, 401(k) balances are falling and the economy is swirling the bowl, then Wendy and Lucy is not your movie. But if you’ve ever wondered about the story behind a lost dog poster put up on a utility pole, then this story might be. I defy you to watch this movie and not go home and hug your dog.
The latest film from Kelly Reichardt is a minimalist film about a young woman named Wendy (Michelle Williams), who is driving from Indiana to Alaska in the hopes of a summer of lucrative work in a fish cannery and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, which come to a head when Wendy and Lucy become separated. Williams is already getting buzz as a possible Oscar nominee for this role, and justifiably so.
The sad message behind the film is that it is all too easy for people to slip between the cracks in our society. When you are sitting in the audience with a car in the parking lot that can take you back to your house, it might be easy to feel that you will never find yourself on the edge like Wendy. But this film tries to show that security can be an ephemeral thing. And the sad moral to the story is that it is easier for a lost dog to find a home than it is for a lost person.
Tags: LSIFF
3 Comments, Comments or Pings
Tom Huckabee
Beautiful analysis, Steve.The only thing you left out was how pleasurable it was to spend two hours basking in the glow of Michelle Williams’ face, like one of those tremendous European mugs of the sixties, i.e. Ingrid Bergman.Anna Karina, Jeanne Moreau. With another actor it might have been like an interminable root canal: necessary but hardly entertaining.
BTW, Johnny Reno rocked the house last night at Scat; if jazz rocks, that is. And his drummer did a great 18 minute scat with Joey Carter admirably switching from vibes to trap set.
Nov 14th, 2008
Steve-O
Thanks for your comment, Tom. Michelle Williams does have that whole French New Wave thing rocking for her, and she is crazy talented. Without her, that would have been a whole different movie.
Wished I had made it by Scat. Haven’t seen Johnny Reno in a while.
Nov 14th, 2008
James M. Johnston
This is a really great write up. Very well stated and adept insight into the film. I totally agree.
Nov 14th, 2008
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