SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I liked this movie for its minimalism and its characters. Its protagonist is a weak individual whose main source of emotional support is her dog. In the end she can't even protect the dog and leaves her with a better provider, thus leaving herself completely alone. This story is a kind of minor tragedy that emphasizes the downside of American individualism and what happens to a person when his or her support group collapses and they have nothing left. At the start of the picture Wendy's car breaks down and she meets the security guard that helps her push her car off of the parking lot. The guard represents the sole example of human kindness that Wendy experiences the movie. Wendy foolishly attempts to shop lift food for her dog and gets caught and sent to jail. She has to pay a large fine and her dog is gone when she is released. The rest of the movie is Wendy's search for her dog which she finds at the end. Her decision to leave her dog with the new owner is a personal tragedy for her because, as we see in the final scene, she is totally alone in a freight car facing a dangerous and uncertain future.I see this movie in political terms. Republicans that despise the poor and weak will hate this movie for the sympathy that it shows for Wendy. Most American movies emphasize strength or defiance in the face of injustice or adversity. The most that Wendy can do is cry in despair and cling to an improbable hope for the future. This is the core of the film's realism. Without a support group we are all like Wendy. The American myth of the rugged individual is a stupid lie.

Simplicity, when employed wisely, can serve as an enhancement. Subtlety almost always does. Of all the films I've seen in recent months, including high budget productions and much artistry, this quiet drama with few words, a simple plot and more suggestions than out-spun explanations about the protagonist's background has hypnotised me the most. Everything about this film is just right, every word, however mundane. The carrier is without doubt the lead actress: she's done her job if you feel the person on screen actually has to exist, and you do. Williams is perfectly cast; it's perfect if one is convinced that no other should have played a part. Beside this Wendy's plight might feel awfully familiar to some. Feel, as it is the making that successfully makes the bleak experience of being stranded in a town with a possibly even bleaker past and no real idea about the future tangible. The film is to a large degree an in-between the lines reader. And nothing is added that isn't necessary. Very well done, by anyone involved.

Wendy is a young woman who takes out from Indiana in her old Honda Accord with the goal of going to Alaska where, she has been told, there are jobs in the canning industry. Wendy's traveling companion is her dog Lucy. In a small Oregon town Wendy's car breaks down, she is caught shoplifting, and she loses her dog. Without friends or family or a job what does this young girl do? That's the story, with few details left out.I usually like quiet movies, but this one proves that I have my limits. My irritation with the movie and with Wendy began from an early scene that is a long take simply of Wendy walking along with Lucy while humming a nondescript tune. That scene went on so long that I thought it would resolve into something of import, but in fact it merely presaged many such scenes. Perhaps these scenes are there to show how rootless and adrift Wendy was, but I got enough in the first scene. So, a good part of the movie has Wendy walking around while another significant chunk is spent on Wendy's wandering all over the town and countryside yelling "Lucy," after her lost dog. The damn dog was clearly taken, leash and all, from the bike rack. Wendy's interminable and fruitless calling out grated on me to the point that I almost bailed.I got so frustrated with Wendy's bad decisions that I wanted to scream at her. Her first bad decision was to undertake the trip in the first place. If she was desperate enough for work and ambitious enough to undertake the trip, surely she could have vectored her desire for work and her energy in a more constructive way. OK, young people do impulsive, stupid things, but rarely do they persist in the face of the stark reality that Wendy was up against. I was equally irritated by the people that Wendy dealt with. Why didn't one of them at least try to talk to her about her situation--it was clear that she was at sea. Wendy was neither a druggie nor mentally ill. If you came across such a non-threatening, attractive young woman in such straits, would you not at least want to see what you might do to help? Is the safety net in the US so weak that there was no social service that could be called upon? The friendly security guard has nothing but my scorn. He saw exactly what was happening and what did he do? In a guilt-appeasing magnanimous gesture he solemnly handed Wendy six dollars.The ending can be nothing but depressing. From Wendy's walk in the woods we see that it is autumn, and she is heading to Alaska with no suitable gear, not even a sleeping bag. Does she have the personality or wits to survive? I think not. Within a few days or weeks she will be homelessness or dead--take your pick.I like Michelle Williams and she does give this loser a good try; her performance is a positive.

So I watched 2008's indy gem Wendy and Lucy. This movie is the feel good dog movie of the last decade. It is lighthearted, comical, and very easy to watch much like Benji. Wait that's not true in fact this movie is the opposite of that. However, is this movie good, yyyy..yy.yyy.eee.aaa.ssss. Sorry, that's yes I started to cry again. Which unless you are made of stone you will do periodically throughout this movie. It's not a good idea to describe the plot at all (which I am not prone to do anyways), but just to say this movie is very narrowly focused, dealing with the relationship of a homeless girl and her dog. This is a very low budget film, but it doesn't need special effects just demands strong acting from the lead role of Wendy played beautifully by Michelle Williams. This movie sheds a spotlight on several issues including homelessness, the struggles of being gainfully employed in tough times, the loss of someone we love, and the tough decisions we must make sometimes in life. This movie is not for everyone, but if you are an animal lover, an indy lover, or a lover of good and original cinema, get out the tissues and get ready to ball your eyes out you won't be disappointed.