Quietly Moving Wendy a Profound Journey
Quietly profound and at times deeply moving, Wendy and Lucy is one of 2008’s most unexpected gems. A small film, barely even being given a theatrical release, this drama of a young single woman, Wendy (Michelle Williams), trying to find her dog, Lucy, after she goes missing while she’s trapped in a small Oregon town on her way to Alaska is an emotional peon to friendship, kindness and loss. It spoke to me in ways I never quite anticipated, and by the time it was over I was almost sad to see it go, my heart starting to break into pieces just as the image began to fade to black.
Michelle Williams is having a dog day afternoon in Oscilloscope Pictures' Wendy and Lucy
For me, the fact I enjoyed this film as much as I did was something of a surprise. While lauded by just about everyone else, I didn’t respond to director Kelly Reichardt’s acclaimed debut Old Joy. That film, for all its subtle observational restraint, didn’t do a darn thing for me. If anything, I kind of found it more than a bit pointless, and while I could respect the tenderness and care behind the filmmaking the movie itself left me cold.
Not so, this time around. Right from the start this had me intrigued and interested. Wendy’s early wanderings around town are curiously intoxicating and I found myself starting to craft scenarios in my head as to what her back-story might be. I could feel her love for Lucy immediately, their owner/pet bond going beyond the usual superficially saccharine platitudes found in so many other pictures revolving around humans and animals.
Then the unthinkable happens and our heroine makes a choice you just know is going to have nothing but tragic repercussions. From that point forward things snowball, all of it culminating with Lucy’s disappearance and Wendy’s almost frantic attempts to maintain her sanity as things crumble around her. I alternated between wanting to wring the woman’s neck and giving her a much needed hug, the up and down nature of her saga, while on the surface minor, internally almost monumental in its significance.
Much like her previous work, Reichardt is fascinated by the little things. The way a Walgreen’s security guard composes himself in front of the store, the distinct colors oil and sludge make when intermingled with the dingy pastels of an auto repair shop, the resigned indignation of a grocery store manager over having to do the correct thing even though foresees how much pain he is about to cause. I liked how the interaction between Lucy and a group of fellow travelers at a campfire felt so simplistically natural, while a late night encounter in the woods is chilling, not for its potential for danger, but for what it says about the human condition when faced with ongoing poverty and homelessness.
Williams herself just seems to get better and better. I’d never in a million years think she was going to be the actor to emerge from “Dawson’s Creek” as the singular Oscar-level talent, but here she is doing it all the same. Nominated for Brokeback Mountain in 2006, I’d argue she’s even better here. Front and center and in nearly frame, she keeps viewers constantly fascinated as to what the character is going to do next. Is this the moment she breaks down completely? Or, is it the one where she has that intense epiphany and asks for the help she so urgently needs?
Williams manages to sit right between extremes for the majority of the film’s all-too brief 80-minute running time. It’s a magical high wire act, the actress juxtaposing through emotions with elegantly virtuoso ease. More, I can’t help but think this is only the tip of the iceberg for her, moments here and there hinting at magnificence I am almost sure is still yet to come.
Some will say not much happens. Others will probably think character actors Will Patton and Will Oldham (who also starred in Old Joy) are relatively wasted in relatively minor supporting roles. Most of the naysayers will also claim that the film ends on a coda of despair, Wendy left in a far worse place in life than that in which we first find her.
I would, however, respectfully disagree on all counts. I think plenty happens, an expansive vista of emotional ups and downs littering the landscape like dunes of poignantly powerful cliffs and cacti. I feel the supporting performances, while small, are vitally important to film’s emotive outcomes. This is a movie that works, connecting on an inner level so honestly moving it’s almost impossible not to succumb to tears. I liked Wendy and Lucy, and even more I can’t wait to get back to it again.
Film Rating: êêê1/2 (out of 4)
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