Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Succinctly and mourningly poetic, March 2, 2009
Michelle Williams delivers a very understated performance as a down-on-her-luck Wendy, who brings her loyal dog, Lucy, along with her to a journey for a supposed prosperity. It is a very quiet and subtle performance that, Wendy, with little money and no dog food, and an incident which prompts her to lose Lucy, meshes along with her surroundings: a dry and monotone small town, where the sun shines to merely beat down the lumbering, sluggish skins of the inhabitants.This is a very important work, especially in light of today's economic situation: "You need an address to get an address, and you need a job to get a job." succinctly says the kind-hearted security guard who provides help to Wendy during her descent into financial and emotional ruins. "Wendy and Lucy", directed by Kelly Reichardt, emphasizes the many possibilities that are available to an individual by virtue of how everything could be wiped away by being in a little mishap that triggers a chain of unfortunate events, each worse than the previous ones. The dire circumstances that Wendy finds herself in may not be grandiose or explosive, but her plight is all the more heartbreaking and terrifying: just a few more dollars for a bag of dog food for Lucy would have made all the difference. Along with "The Wrestler", though this one is on a simpler and quieter scale, "Wendy and Lucy" is visual poetry that examines a broken and fragile character that perseveres through life's many disappointments. Very ethereal and melancholic; it is simply beautiful.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Patience., December 27, 2008
Let me first say after I saw this film, I had to think about it and digest what was going on, before I knew what I thought about it. My initial reaction was a feeling of indifference. I liked and didn't like the characters. More later. "Wendy and Lucy" is a slow-moving, character-study film. IT REQUIRES PATIENCE. There's not a heck of a lot of dialogue so you have to read between the lines. It's simple and spare storytelling--much like in the style of Hemingway. It's essentially about a girl who is trying to find her American Dream in Alaska. She feels once she gets there, her life will get better. She reminded me of the guy in "Into the Wild" and Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath." However, this is not a road movie. The whole film takes place in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. She has one mishap happen after another: her car breaks down, she gets arrested for shoplifting, she loses her dog--you get the picture. For the greater part of the film, she is searching for her dog. This may wear on the patience of some viewers. Hang in there. All I can say is this film is not about what happens at the end but rather--how it gets there. Appreciate and understand how Wendy reacts and behaves because I think that is the key to understanding the film. Now let me talk about my feelings of indifference to the characters. At first I thought the security guard at Walgreen's was a jerk because he was sorta like "evicting" Wendy from the parking lot. I thought, what harm was she doing sleeping in her car in the parking lot? It wasn't as if they needed her parking space because there were a sleuth of cars waiting around the corner. But then he tried to help her find her dog and I thought differently of him. The same thing goes for the auto mechanic. At first I thought he was trying to rip her off, but then he proposed a more than fair deal to her regarding her car. I even felt indifferent to Wendy. I thought she was kinda stupid to sleep alone in a deserted park at night. Wasn't she afraid of some crazy people coming up to her? And sure enough--someone did. But then I saw other signs of her that showed how responsible she was, such as keeping track of how much money she spent, etc. So what did I think of this movie? I liked it very much. It is one of the best films of the year, and Michelle Williams turns in one of her best performances to date. She should win the Oscar for Best Actress. She is the main reason why I liked this film so much. The Wendy character is a complex role. She has shades of being a hippie from the '60s: independent and free-spirited. Yet, she's also practical and resourceful like someone from the Great Depression. I liked how there was a "liberal" and "conservative" side to Wendy. Is the director foreshadowing our President-elect in light of his recent nominations for his Cabinet?
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A heartbreaking portrayal of true suffering..., May 21, 2009
Sometimes simple can say so much, and that is the case with this independent gem. `Wendy and Lucy' quite simple tells the story of Wendy and Lucy, a young woman and her dog. Wendy is virtually homeless, sleeping in her car as she makes her way to Alaska where she feels her life will be better. Lucy is her faithful `yellow gold' dog who sticks by her side and proves to be the only sunlight in Wendy's life. The film opens with Wendy and Lucy walking through the woods playing fetch as a consistent and almost tranquil hum embeds itself in our ears and it is that simple imagery that tells us all we need to know about Wendy.
Without Lucy, she is lost.
The film doesn't have much plot depth, for it can be summed up in one sentence:
"Wendy loses Lucy and desperately tries to find her."
Trying to cast the film off as nothing more than that though is a shame, since despite the shallow plot points the film has such rich depth of character here. The real story is not Wendy's attempt to find Lucy but WHY Wendy must find Lucy. There is a statement on the back of the DVD that makes the accusation that the reason this film has an R rating is that censors don't want children to realize that people are lonely and that life is not always peachy. Well, honestly, this film is rated R for the F-words that are spoken (sure, there aren't a LOT, but there are more than 3); but I think that there lies some truth in that statement as well. We (and by we, I mean the general adult public) try so hard today to shield our children from pain that we don't prepare them enough for the actuality of that said pain. When they come face to face with the harsh realities of the world outside they may, sadly, be unable to cope with it. I'm not saying that allowing your children to watch this particular film is going to help them be better able to tackle life's eventual hard-times, but I do feel that more films like this need to be made, with a lighter rating (no need for the language at all here) in order to instill in children the need for a thick skin in this often grim society.
Life is not always peachy; in fact, it rarely ever is.
Michelle Williams is a revelation here, sinking so far into her character that she becomes in recognizable. The way her face contorts when she is hearing the worst news ever (just watch the way she crumbles with subtlety when she is hearing about her car) is just so soul reaching. She is the opposite of showy but she never fails to touch us. We understand why she needs to find Lucy because we can see in her eyes, in her mannerisms, in her voice that this dog is all she has left to hold onto. There are few films that require an actor or actress to carry every scene, and when that film comes along it takes a special actress to actually do just that.
Michelle Williams does JUST that.
The film is not going to be for everyone. With the simple plot progression some will find this boring, but that is a shame in my opinion. These small films are very important in getting to understand ourselves inside and out. `Wendy and Lucy' has been hailed as one of the best films of 2008, and I agree wholeheartedly. It is a story that will touch your heart with its honesty and sincerity. `Marley and Me' may have been a sweet and touching story of a family touched by the life of a dog, but `Wendy and Lucy' is an even more honest and poignant depiction of the deep-seated need for friendship and loyalty in ones life; even if it's from a dog.
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