Wendy and Lucy

Starring: Michelle Williams, Walter Dalton, Will Patton
Directed by: Kelly Reichardt
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young woman (Michelle Williams) traveling to Alaska breaks down in Oregon. This sparks a number of unfortunate events, including losing her dog, Lucy. Now, she starts a frantic search for her beloved dog as she tries to get her life back on track.

Review:

Tim: I always enjoy watching small budget independent movies because they are so different from the big moneymakers that roll out of Hollywood nearly every week. They are certainly a different type of movie, and it requires you to go into them with a different mindset. I am certainly no independent movie expert- I try to see the important ones when I can, but I tend to gravitate towards the better known, event movies. One of the things I've found with smaller movies is that while they often afford the lead actor or actress the chance to really showcase their ability, the movie itself doesn't always live up to that performance.

This movie is a perfect example of that scenario. Wendy and Lucy is a simple story- it's about a girl searching for her lost dog. The story itself is fine, and it is a quiet, compelling little movie. However, there's very little to get excited about with the story. The movie really belongs to Michelle Williams and her impressive performance. Williams goes the typical Oscar-bait, independent movie route of making herself "ugly." This is a classic technique that is used by actresses, often to great effect. Charlize Theron won an Oscar, partially because she went the ugly route in Monster. Nicole Kidman won an Oscar, partially for playing ugly with a prosthetic nose in The Hours.

Michelle Williams didn't win an Oscar, but she certainly went that route here, not using makeup or washing her hair at all during filming. I think it's an overdone tactic, but you also have to appreciate the effort. Williams gives a very restrained, quietly powerful performance as Wendy. I really enjoyed watching her act here, and she gets a meaty role to show off her talent. Throughout the movie, she is nearly unrecognizable. That is always impressive. It was actually a great deal of fun watching Williams here. She showed great bravery by making herself look bland and worn out, and the film wisely gives us a number of close ups to ensure that image remains in our mind.

Unfortunately, the movie itself left me wanting a little more. The movie was definitely a vehicle for Williams to give a memorable performance, but I thought the story and the characters were a little underwhelming. Again, this isn't a bad movie, but it's not exactly a good one, either. I wasn't really touched by the story- the movie has some emotional moments, but it's too easy to dismiss these. I wanted to leave the film struck by the emotional story, but it only touched my head (interesting little story), not my heart.

Wendy and Lucy features a terrific performance by Michelle Williams. That's the main reason to watch this movie. Williams really makes the role her own, further establishing herself as an actress to be reckoned with. The film itself is decent, but not quite up to where I wish it was.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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