Cinematic Point Of View

I remember watching Wendy and Lucy many years ago when it was first released but I did not remember much about it. Last week I ran across it playing on Mubi and felt compelled to give it another watch. I’m really glad I did. It’s a hidden gem.

Directed by the always interesting and original Kelly Reichardt, Wendy and Lucy tells the story of a woman named Wendy (Michelle Williams), with a dog named Lucy, going through financially hard times and traveling to Alaska to find a job. Along the way, her car breaks down in a small Oregon town.

She is all alone, except for her dog Lucy, and broke. In a desperate move, she attempts to shoplift dog food and is caught by an over-eager, young, grocery store employee. She’s hauled in to the manager’s office where she tries to talk her way out of it. There is sympathy in the manager’s eyes but the young employee who caught Wendy wants to make an example of her. The police show up and haul Wendy off to spend a night in jail, leaving her dog tied to a bike rack in front of the grocery store.

When she returns the next day, after spending more of her dwindling cash to get out, she finds that Lucy is gone.

A security guard (Wally Dalton) who asked her to move her car the previous day, is standing in place and attempts to offer helpful advice and words of encouragement in locating her dog, a place to stay, and repairing her car. Not much he can do but he does what he can.

Wendy is hurting, tired, broke, and determined. And to me this is the point of the film. Wendy is everyone. We’re all trying to survive. Everyone you meet is like Wendy, in some way, and everyone Wendy meets, is like her, in some way. We’re all trying to make ends meet, sometimes at the cost of human compassion.

This is a slice-of-life journey of empathy and compassion. Walk a mile in her shoes.

Anchored by an extraordinary performance by Michelle Williams, and only a handful of locations and actors, like the pitch perfect Will Patton as the mechanic, this minimalist bit of filmmaking really spoke to me on a different level.

I highly recommend Wendy and Lucy for when you’re looking for something is a little bit smaller, quiet, honest, and off the beaten path.