Film: Wendy and Lucy

I have been fascinated with the film Wendy and Lucy since it came out in 2008. Starring Michelle Williams it is the film she made and promoted around her break up with Heath Ledger and his death. I have always thought that Ms. Williams is a fantastic actor and really wanted to see her in this role.

Wendy and Lucy is an adaptation of Jon Raymond’s short story Train Choir. It is directed by Kelly Reichard and won both Best Picture and Best Actress at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards in 2008.
This small understated indie film: features Williams as a down-and-out young woman who is on her way to Alaska to find work. She stops to sleep in a dismal Oregon town and in short order loses her car and her dog, Lucy. There appears to be no safety net for people like Wendy. Once they slip, there's nothing to catch them.
The film takes place over two days and is done on a small budget without extravagance. Ms. Williams dominates the events as they unfold. She is excellent at gaining viewer compassion despite her limits in the pace and action of the film. Ms Reichardt uses images and the sounds of real life, leading the story between spurts of diologues with characters Wendy encounters. The dog Lucy is played by the directors own pooch and unpretensiously plays the role of Wendy’s best and only friend.

Great interview with M. Williams where the above quote is from:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-01-25/entertainment/17197288_1_heath-ledger-cannes-film-festival-personal

Official website of the film:

http://www.wendyandlucy.com/

http://www.torontofilmcritics.com/blog/