Wendy and Lucy (2008)

Director: Kelly Reichardt

Writers: Kelly Reichardt, Jonathan Raymond

Starring: Michelle Williams, Lucy the dog, Michelle Worthey, Will Oldham, Wally Dalton, John Robinson, John Breen, Will Patton, Larry Fessenden

More info: IMDb

Tagline: On the long road, friendship is everything.

Plot: A woman's life is derailed en route to a potentially lucrative summer job. When her car breaks down, and her dog is taken to the pound, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she is led through a series of increasingly dire economic decisions.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Good flick.  Michelle Williams carries the picture as Wendy interacts with a variety of characters, some good and some bad. We only get a small hint as to why she's on the road with her dog, Lucy, trying to make her way to Alaska and we aren't entirely sure why she's going there.  She gets detoured in a small town where, over a couple of days, she's arrested, loses Lucy and her car dies.  It's a sad piling of events in which she is partly responsible for.  Money was tight so she didn't have to steal but that brings on a major event which will have significant consequences.  No spoilers here but her decision in the end is heartbreaking.  Was it the right one?  Maybe.  My emotions would've gotten the best of me and I would have done it differently...but then I don't think I would've resorted to stealing.  Her decision wasn't based on emotion but on reasoning and not a selfish one at that.  The ending is very good and it's right for the film regardless of what I or you think we would've done.  Now you're curious, right?  Check it out.  It's a good character piece with a good cast and performances.  There's no score which is odd but it works with the film.  After seeing this and MEEK'S CUTOFF (2010) in the span of one day I'm keen to see Reichardt's other work.  I like her voice.  Sadly, there are no extras on the Oscilloscope DVD for this film but there are for others.  You get trailers for 12 Oscilloscope pictures and Five short films chosen by the director from her colleagues at Bard College to include BOSTON FIRE, NEW YORK PORTRAIT #2 (by Peter Hutton), FLIGHT by Les LeVeque, THE SCARY MOVIE by Peggy Ahwesh and HOW TO FIX THE WORLD by Jacqueline Goss.