Wendy and Lucy | Kelly Reichardt, 2008
Montana-born actress Michelle Williams has come a long way since her career-propelling turn on the hit teenage drama Dawson’s Creek. That was ‘98, and a bold move for a young actress who had already made her screen debut. As with many other young talents however, the stability of a six-season run on such a popular primetime show proved to be priceless. Since then Williams has made some important films, roles that strayed from the limelight slightly but those that no doubt furthered her reputation in the industry. Indeed, it has taken until now for her first leading role to present itself, in the form of rising independent filmmaker Kelly Reichardt’s latest effort Wendy and Lucy. The story is of one girl and her dog as they crawl across Northwest America in an ailing 1988 Honda, Wendy trying to make the most of her funds until she can reach the coveted state of Alaska and possible employment. Reichardt’s view of regional America in the abandoned parking lots and jangling railway sidings is the perfect setting for this wayward tale. With a beginning and end that are not – and don’t need to be – divulged, all we witness instead is the unrelenting struggle of the present. The problems our main character encounters, beginning with the disappearance of her loyal canine friend, might well be unfortunate but they are life-threatening in her state, and Williams plays out this increasing desperation in a quietly understated yet highly impressive manner.
The Wendy character is a testament to both actress and director who have clearly and consciously attempted to create a person whose emotions are firmly bottled up. Indeed the only genuine outburst we witness is when Wendy awakens upon flattened cardboard in a darkened forest to find a crazed and babbling homeless person standing over her. This rather sinister sequence is somewhat tangential to the overall flow of the film but serves an important purpose. Not only does it underline the danger of such a life but is also a frightening look into the future for Wendy, who deals with the situation by running in the opposite direction until the adrenaline ceases, shock kicks in and tears begin to flow. Sympathy is represented here in a local security guard who lends Wendy use of his phone on occasion, but even this helping hand can’t stave the wolves of misfortune from the car door. It’s an almost voyeuristic standpoint that Reichardt allows us in Wendy and Lucy. The inwardness of our title character refuses any possibility of becoming part of this journey, and thus we must be content with a rather affecting seat on the sidelines. Wendy exits, just as swiftly as she enters our lives and it’s largely thanks to the efforts of Williams that she leaves such a lasting impression. It is sadness that those so young should experience such a life in a country as wide and plentiful as America, and it is a certain level of dread towards the current economic state that Wendy and Lucy successfully manages to evoke.
Our Rating:
Excellent write-up. I especially enjoyed your analysis of Williams’ portrayal of Wendy. Very insightful.
By: afilmodyssey on June 12, 2009
at 7:42 pm
Thank you! Have you read A.O. Scott’s thoughts on the film?
By: jedimoonshyne on June 15, 2009
at 10:49 am
I just did as a matter of fact, and I’m truly flabbergasted. I agreed with the latter half of the write-up, about our propensity as viewers to put ourselves in Wendy’s shoes as she comes across obstacle after obstacle during her journey. However, the film’s supposed social commentary pertaining to our nation’s deteriorating economic state had never even occurred to me. Good stuff.
By: afilmodyssey on June 15, 2009
at 6:29 pm
Exactly the same thing happened to me after I watched Wendy and Lucy for the first time. I was in the process of writing some notes on the film when someone asked me how important I thought the current economic climate was to the creation of the film. I remember being completely taken aback and then feeling slightly ashamed of myself because I’d never thought of it while watching the film – not for one moment!
One thing I didn’t manage to outline in the review is the similarities between Wendy and Lucy and one or two important films of the Italian Neorealist movement. There are some brilliant contemporary American films that positively channel Neorealism – David Gordon Green’s George Washington and its inspiration, Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep in particular – and I believe that Wendy and Lucy falls right into this category.
By: jedimoonshyne on June 16, 2009
at 9:38 am