Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008): US

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Reviewed by Liz Thelander. Viewed at the ArcLight Hollywood as part of the AFI Film Festival.

Looking for something to do for an hour? You may find it worth your time to check out this short, though altogether average road trip flick. With no musical score and just one central character, the action lover may find it hard to remain attentive to this sweet but slow-moving drama.

Wendy, played by the always beautiful Michelle Williams, is on a solitary road trip to Alaska to look for a job. Her only companion is her faithful yellow mutt Lucy. Besides her dog, all Wendy has to her name is the clothes on her back, a wad of cash, a pillow, an empty bag of dog food, and a beat up car that’s on its very last legs. When Wendy’s car breaks down in Oregon, she must find a way to keep Lucy and herself safe and fed until she can somehow get her car fixed and get back on the road.

Wendy and Lucy is a mellow, slow-paced, stoic film set in a sleepy Oregon town. It is simply a glimpse of a moment along the difficult and lonely journey that Wendy and her dog are making to the Final Frontier. The camera almost never moves, not even to follow a character off-screen. Wendy often walks in and out of frame, sometimes never coming back once she’s out, leaving the viewers to linger a while as if we’re waiting for the next clue as to where little Wendy might have gone. The effect is more aggravating than charming—the viewer, or at least I, would like to see where she’s gone to or else just forget it!

I am not saying that seeing Wendy and Lucy would be a bad way to use your time, but you probably won’t walk away from this film with any understanding of a deeper meaning to life. There is no question that it is a beautiful film, but that is about all you get to take away from the experience.

And I have one question… Why couldn’t Wendy get a job in that sleepy Oregon town, or in any other town like it that she passed through? Why was she dragging herself and her poor dog all the way to Alaska, risking life and limb, just for a job? It’s the big question about this film that was on a lot of viewers’ minds at the festival, but I suppose it’s just one of those practicalities some films tend to overlook for the sake of a good story.