Wendy and Lucy (2008)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Wendy and Lucy (2008) – K. Reichardt

Kelly Reichardt’s movies are probably an acquired taste.  Some use the word “minimalist” to describe them but I’m not exactly sure what it means in this context (anti-Hollywood, for sure).  If it signifies that there’s not much going on in her movies, just plainly told stories of everyday events, unfolding slowly and shot with a clear-eyed skill in observation, then OK.  However, less is often more, as they say and, if you give in to them, Reichardt’s mundane stories somehow become sublime.  Perhaps it is her eye for beautiful compositions that heightens the experience or the inner resolve that her characters have or need to muster.  Wendy (Michelle Williams) is on her way to Alaska in a junky old car with her dog, Lucy.  She seems to have very little money, sleeping in her car, washing up in gas station restrooms.  Her relations with other people seem strained.  And, of course, somewhere near Portland, OR, things go wrong (she loses Lucy among other trials).  Apart from Williams, many or most of the other actors seem to be non-professionals and the action takes place on the streets (or in the woods) in real locations.  What happens to Wendy could happen to you or me, if things took a wrong turn.  The desperation is real and Reichardt is wise not to sensationalize it.