"Though it doesn't feature Old Joy's Air America radio call-in Greek chorus, Kelly Reichardt's follow-up Wendy and Lucy is nonetheless a somber politicized lament for hardscrabble lives struggling to exist on the economic precipice." - Nick Schager

i love michelle williams, but this is the diametric opposite of everything a film should be

Its quiet potency emaciated somewhat; becoming simply 'quiet'.

Average hard luck story with not much substance. The cinematography is decent though. I suppose you could draw all sorts of pretentious parallels to the American national character and economy but I sincerely hope that was not the intention. I also didn't really buy the portrayal of a cute young white woman having these problems in America either. Maybe she should have used couch surfer to find a place to stay and not been caught doing stupid things?

Williams: very strong , patience: required

The formal sobriety just lets you sink into a state of peaceful attentiveness. There's something with the calmness and aimlessness here reminding me of Jarmusch. There's this mood of withdrawal persistent from start to finish, escalating in the final minutes, which seem to suggest a kind of silent, perplexed agony - but as Loach does in Kes, Reichardt makes the despondent something... I don't know, not uplifting, heartening, I think, but not despondent, anyhow. This doesn't hit hard, but it hits

Welcome to Indy-hell.

Michelle Williams gives an excellent performance but the film as a whole is lacking. It's maybe a little too understated and matter of fact about what goes on, relying completely on sympathy to engage the audience, while some interesting observations are scattered throughout but never developed. As a film based on little moments it needed something more.

A compassionate piece of filmmaking. Aside from any illustration of economic struggle, the film works hard to place viewers in Wendy's shoes. This is, I think, the main goal of the film. Rather than make a statement, it works to engender compassion for someone else, for someone we don't really understand that well. She is a human being, and because of that, she deserves our grace and our consideration.

Finely observed piece of realism.

Fuck, why did I just subject myself to that?

Michelle Williams gives a great, realistic performance in this film. The plot is simple yet it really hits home. The performance by Michelle Williams really makes you care about her character and her dog Lucy.

Best sleep aid ever.

Whyz it gotta be so hard to run away to Alaska these days?

Seen it before, but the last 10 minutes are pretty beautiful. Not quite sure if I buy the allegories that many are proposing, but if they are the intent then I would probably take back the nice thoughts I had about the film. Its a simple and tragic story...the end.

Wendy is a victim of her own stupidity as well as circumstance. The film makes no effort to convince you otherwise and that's what separates it from other runaway stories despite its "well haven't we seen this before?" familiarity. Michelle Williams plays her role well and manages to make us sympathize for a character that would otherwise seem unsympathetic on paper. Good movie.

An unassuming, matter-of-fact portrait of life on society's fringes. It's almost comically unfettered, but that helps it avoid the pitfalls of romanticizing Wendy's plight and Michelle Williams' performance is more than up to the task of carrying the film.

Exceptionally understated but moving. Like UMBERTO D with a bit of the Dardennes thrown in the mix. It's a bleak film and a massive downer but Reichardt sees the potential for goodness in people. She allows us to see Wendy's occasional mistakes, doesn't romanticize her plight for a moment, refuses to either imbue her with a sorrowful backstory or a certain future. Williams' performance is gorgeously restrained. A beautiful film, although I'm not sure my heart could stand another viewing.

"...a small, spare, and genuinely beautiful film..."

Very powerful and moving, while depressing. I never really feel sympathy for Wendy, because she's an idiot, but the movie is beautiful and sad. Worth seeing once.

Subtle, realistic. Beautiful, heartbreaking. Wendy and Lucy is all of this with a knockout perf from Michelle Williams. Reichardt is a director to treasure.

"Recasting the "girl and her dog" adventure as a snap-shot of national depression, this could well be the most affecting American drama of the year."

Immediately after seeing this movie I described it as "objectively worse than the holocaust." That was wrong of me, and I recant, but it's certainly more boring than the holocaust. It's about a boring woman who is going to Alaska for some reason and she loses her dog because she's poor, and finding it is difficult... because she's poor. The majority of lines consist of her calling her dog's name. At one point there is a shot of some seagulls. The seagulls symbolize freedom. A terrible film.

Nice, sad little film that speaks relatively eloquently about how poverty is a constraining force, but that's all it has down its sleeve. Michelle Williams makes the movie.

Not quite what I was expecting. All the time I was trying to put myself in her predicament, so the film was quite an experience for me.

A very powerful and moving piece. When you have next to nothing it's too easy to lose everything - that's what we find out through the travails of a courageous girl who struggles to keep afloat in an unforgiving and dangerous world. It's easy to sympathise with the fragility of this tragic/romantic character, brilliantly portrayed by Williams. Reichardt's pacing and simple naturalistic filming style are perfect for this. I found the story heart-rending without ever being manipulative or forced.

I feel like this has all been done before in films I've seen, and it does drag throughout the middle, but otherwise it works, and there is a lot of emotional resonance in the ending.

It's ok but I was expecting a much better film..

Horrible movie. I'm so sick of the "plotless movies with long periods of silence that result in an abrupt ending because do to the lack of plot, there's no other way to end it besides having it just... end" type of films. They're annoying and pointless, but people like them because they're supposedly fantastic films if you know what you're talking about / are a film buff. It's just bs, and liking these pos's doesn't make you a film buff, sorry to say. Grade: D Plus

One of the most beautiful, realistic portrayals of poverty captured in recent cinema. Michelle Williams doesn't act - she lives the part.