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List Price: $29.95 | | Label: Oscilloscope
Salesrank: 18795
Released: May 5, 2009 |
| Our Price: $16.77 |
| Used Price: $9.85 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Studio: Oscilloscope Pictures Release Date: 05/05/2009 Run time: 80 minutes Rating: R
Description of Wendy and Lucy:
Kelly Reichardt’s second feature, Wendy and Lucy, has even more Pacific Northwest piney quietude than her debut Old Joy, since its starring couple is a canine-human pair rather than a male duo. Will Oldham again makes a charged appearance, this time as Icky (Will Oldham), a grungy, train-hopping punk. Based on a short story, this time Jonathan Raymond’s "Train Choir," Wendy and Lucy’s dialogue is a sparse spattering amongst long, languid scenes that moodily portray a young woman, Wendy (Michelle Williams), suffering economic crisis and road trip malaise on her way to work Alaskan fishing boats. The bulk of the story takes place in Portland, where her Honda breaks down and she must engage the local mechanic (Will Patton) and Walgreen’s security guard (Wally Dalton) for honest advice and for help finding her dog, Lucy, who disappears during one of Wendy’s disasters. Wendy and Lucy would aptly be titled Wendy’s Bad Day, as problems pile up due to one main misstep. Williams does a great job portraying a woman who is semi self-sufficient but clueless in the art of survival. As the film speaks to many young people who have been broke and stranded, one will inevitably wonder why Wendy makes the unwise choices she does, for example sleeping in a dangerous area along a train track instead of finding a safer campground, or wandering the streets looking for her lost pooch in lieu of hunkering down for a temporary part-time job. The film straddles the line between social realism and fantasy in this regard, provoking frustration during certain plot twists. However, Wendy and Lucy is a pleasure to look at for its grainy greenery, hypnotic, sweeping landscape and train yard shots, and for the story, when it centers on developing the deep bond between a lady and her dog. --Trinie Dalton
Wendy and Lucy Reviews:
Incredibly depressing 
2009-11-22 - I suppose this is probably a good film but it is very dark, visually and matephorically, and not entertaining at all. I would have had more fun watching animals getting euthanized probably - do not get this for entertainment value.
"Wendy and Lucy" 
2009-11-15 -
"Wendy and Lucy" is a subtley portrayed vision of alienated life in this country. After viewing this film for the first time, it haunted me for days. It is not, however, a depressing film but rather a testament to our capacity to love and to seek an individual life. I recommend this brave film to others.
Slice of life
2009-09-21 - Another reviewer said it takes "Patience" to get into this movie so I took their advice, and although I found the first 15 minutes frustrating, I ended up loving the movie. Michelle Williams does an excellent job with very little plot or dialogue. Sometimes I think we are all just a paycheck away from where her character ended up.
Like a car wreck you can't look away from. 
2009-09-05 - Beautifully filmed, making mundane places and people radiant and mysterious. It seemed like a documentary of one woman's series of bad luck and bad choices. Half way through, I became aware of the lack of music, and how that magnified the action. I wanted to stop watching at many points, knowing that Wendy's mistakes were going to catch up to her, but I couldn't turn away. I could easily see those sorts of things happening to me if I got on the wrong track one day and didn't have a support system to help me get right.
Although this story is about Wendy, it tells how important her dog Lucy is to her, so I wish the camera had spent more time with Lucy. I know it was the absence of Lucy that drives the story, but still....
As a volunteer working for the Missing Pet Partnership, I found it difficult to watch all the things Wendy did wrong before and after she lost Lucy. I kept wanting to yell at her through the screen, "Don't do that!" Judging this movie not on its artistic merits but on its demonstration of how to retrieve your lost dog, I give Wendy a 10 for desire but a 3 for her methods. I would be just as bereft as Wendy was, if I'd lost any of my three dogs, which is why I've taken many redundant measures to make sure it never happens. If you do lose your dog, check out the many good tips at the Missing Pet Partnership rather than following Wendy's example.
I still can't decide if I liked this movie. It was compelling and beautiful, but sometimes just too horrible to watch for someone who loves dogs as much as I do.
Michelle Williams is mesmerizing to watch, considering that she doesn't actually do much or say much. At no point could you ever doubt that this was actually happening to her.
Good Independent Movie with Real Life Meaning
2009-08-31 - This movie wasn't the happiest of movie. Actually it was down right depressing. But the plot and the relationship with Wendy and Lucy was meaningful and as a big animal and dog lover myself I found meaning in this movie.
Even though this movie was depressing, I gave it 4 stars as for me it was a "what if" movie that this could happen to anyone, and the strong bond she had with the dog was special. I wish it was happier, but I enjoyed it and made me feel good to live the way I do now and appreciate my life and my pets..
