Feature

Wendy and Lucy

Michelle Williams wows critics in recession-appropriate tale of an unfortunate road trip

by Brian Schimpf   |   Dec 1, 2008

Wendy and Lucy

Michelle Williams in Wendy and Lucy

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Wendy and her dog, Lucy, are traveling across the country. Their destination? A lucrative fish-canning job in Alaska. Along the way Wendy’s car breaks down, and she loses Lucy. This is when Wendy slowly comes unhinged.

Like director Kelly Reichardt’s last film, Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy was also shot in rural Oregon. Also like Joy, Reichardt continues to explore small slices of life without hitting the viewer over the head with dramatics. She is able to recount a character’s history and explain the present in a few cinematic moments. We don’t know much about Wendy’s past, only that she seeks a better future.

When Reichardt and Williams traveled with the movie to the Cannes Film Festival, Williams’s portrayal of Wendy received rave reviews. It is her solo performance that carries the entire movie. Williams’s gift is her ability to subtly showcase an emotion without the bells and whistles of overacting (see Brokeback Mountain).

Wendy and Lucy opens at Film Forum Wed. December 10, 2008.