Review of Wendy and Lucy (2008) by Josh A — 25 May 2009

This movie is simple. It's about a girl and her dog, and how much she loves her dog. Plot-wise, that's about it. But Michelle Williams manages to squeeze out huge webs of complex backstories without even saying many words, via her frustrated, sincere, and distrusting expressions.

Kelly Reichardt is one of the few directors managing to capture a sense of place in the US. In Old Joy and now in Wendy and Lucy, the Pacific Northwest is a vital character, despite the lack of grandiose landscape shots. She also zooms in on a particular subculture that inhabits the northwest, without ever losing a broad sense of appeal -- underneath its near-Dogma aesthetic, this is a simple fable on innocent, pure love -- or veering into anthropological examination.

And yeah, the dog is cute as hell.