thinbeach You can see Wendy is bummed about life from the very beginning. Only a young adult, yet her walk is lethargic, eyes dead pan, face managing to both carry the weight of the world and move not a muscle. It's all she can do to keep it together while road tripping to Alaska in search of employment, but whatever vestige of control she has gets wrestled from her in a small town somewhere in pretty Oregon. Her car breaks down, she is arrested for shoplifting from the supermarket, during which time Lucy, her dog and only companion, goes missing. As she searches for Lucy, and tries to get the issues with her car sorted, Wendy's bleakness becomes the films bleakness, and we can hardly crack a smile despite some of the well captured idiosyncrasies of the characters she meets - a saint of a carpark security guard, with naught to do all day but stand around with his hands in his pockets, and a mechanic who places bets over the phone. If the film has one grave mistake it is to paint her irrational character in a sympathetic light, whilst painting the rational world around her as oppressive. Should we really sympathise with a shoplifter? Only if she is the victim, and shoplifting her only way out. But although she's in a difficult situation, Wendy is not nearly as victimised as the film attempts to portray her. She had money to pay for those goods, but made the decision not to, and it was her choice to travel hundreds of miles in a bunk car with a limited budget to begin with. Furthermore, we are not even given a backstory to understand how she came to such a bleak outlook, making it even more difficult to sympathise. Because we are human we feel for her sadness, but this alone does not a great film make. If the film has a second grave flaw, its that it is very slow, and so unapologetically dour, that it becomes tedious to sit through. It's a shame it doesn't have a much shorter edit, for the 16mm well lends the subject matter an inviting, personal feel.

ckdos2 Bravo to both Kelly Reichart and Michelle Williams for 'Wendy & Lucy' which was ahead of its time. This powerful movie was mostly ignored by Hollywood in 2008 when it was produced because it exposes the frightening economic hardships of America's homeless which are now the highest since the Great Depression. The facade of Hollywood often won't allow itself to crumble to the neo-realism of America's underbelly especially in the land of illusions. You're welcome to Disneyland, but just don't look too close or you might see the groups of homeless people sleeping under the freeway overpasses. So who wants to hear about a girl and her beloved dog...anyway? Give us gangsters and guns, and billions and lies, more car chases and gratuitous violence. Aren't we all wealthy in America as we drive our gas guzzling SUV, live in our new home and pull out our credit cards? Just don't tell anyone that the bank owns us and if we miss only one payment, we might end up just like Wendy and Lucy...on the streets.'Wendy & Lucy' challenges the viewers to acknowledge the homeless as human beings, not just as bums to be scorned. Sometimes fate throws us bad news and we need a helping hand. Many times homeless people are like homeless pets, not there through their own device.By the way, where is Michelle William's Oscars? She was supreme as Diana and Marilyn. And...just how many Oscars does Meryl Streep really need...anyway? Hello.

SEAL847 Michelle Williams delivers a complex and layered performance in this film, as few of her peers can. Her chameleonesque abilities from one role to another continue to impress, whether the film(s) she is in measures up to her enormous talent. Recently, I watched and tried to like "Take this Waltz," but it was not possible despite the fact that I love seeing Michelle on screen (Brokeback Mountain, The Station Agent and Prozac Nation, to name a few) and wish Sarah Polley all the success she deserves (love your acting too, Sarah). Both actors typically outstrip their contemporaries; however, I digress. Wendy and Lucy captured my attention, made me smile and broke my heart, leaving many thoughts to ponder. Watch it and decide for yourself.

bandw Wendy is a young woman who takes out from Indiana in her old Honda Accord with the goal of going to Alaska where, she has been told, there are jobs in the canning industry. Wendy's traveling companion is her dog Lucy. In a small Oregon town Wendy's car breaks down, she is caught shoplifting, and she loses her dog. Without friends or family or a job what does this young girl do? That's the story, with few details left out.I usually like quiet movies, but this one proves that I have my limits. My irritation with the movie and with Wendy began from an early scene that is a long take simply of Wendy walking along with Lucy while humming a nondescript tune. That scene went on so long that I thought it would resolve into something of import, but in fact it merely presaged many such scenes. Perhaps these scenes are there to show how rootless and adrift Wendy was, but I got enough in the first scene. So, a good part of the movie has Wendy walking around while another significant chunk is spent on Wendy's wandering all over the town and countryside yelling "Lucy," after her lost dog. The damn dog was clearly taken, leash and all, from the bike rack. Wendy's interminable and fruitless calling out grated on me to the point that I almost bailed.I got so frustrated with Wendy's bad decisions that I wanted to scream at her. Her first bad decision was to undertake the trip in the first place. If she was desperate enough for work and ambitious enough to undertake the trip, surely she could have vectored her desire for work and her energy in a more constructive way. OK, young people do impulsive, stupid things, but rarely do they persist in the face of the stark reality that Wendy was up against. I was equally irritated by the people that Wendy dealt with. Why didn't one of them at least try to talk to her about her situation--it was clear that she was at sea. Wendy was neither a druggie nor mentally ill. If you came across such a non-threatening, attractive young woman in such straits, would you not at least want to see what you might do to help? Is the safety net in the US so weak that there was no social service that could be called upon? The friendly security guard has nothing but my scorn. He saw exactly what was happening and what did he do? In a guilt-appeasing magnanimous gesture he solemnly handed Wendy six dollars.The ending can be nothing but depressing. From Wendy's walk in the woods we see that it is autumn, and she is heading to Alaska with no suitable gear, not even a sleeping bag. Does she have the personality or wits to survive? I think not. Within a few days or weeks she will be homelessness or dead--take your pick.I like Michelle Williams and she does give this loser a good try; her performance is a positive.