Review: Wendy and Lucy

Directed by: Kelly Reichardt

Written by: Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt

Starring: Michelle Williams, Walter Dalton, Will Patton, Will Oldham, John Robinson

Rating: [4.5/5]

Taking care of oneself in a world barren of opportunity poses its own challenges, which makes the responsibility of taking care of someone or something else even more of a burden but one kept together by love. We see this play out in many stories about contending with extreme poverty with children but Wendy and Lucy tells the tale of a woman and her fur baby in the attempt to simply survive and it all but guarantees tissue boxes will need to be ready. 

Trying to find her way to Alaska where she hopes to find work, Wendy (Michelle Williams) travels with her dog Lucy. When her car breaks and she takes it to a mechanic, and with her remaining funds tries to repair it leaving her with not even enough funds to feed her dog. 

Stories of extreme poverty in the face of the 2008 recession really hit home the difficulty that came with trying to survive when jobs came in short supply. It drives Wendy to want to travel to Alaska in order to find employment knowing the limited funds she has available to her only further exacerbating the point. As one of the characters points out, one needs a job in order to get a job and so forth with all of the basic needs of an individual. This puts people like Wendy in a place where she cannot even begin to dig herself out of this situation and builds a hopeless feeling within her. It brings a sense of desperation to her as she needs to figure something out before she has nothing left and this continues to mount for her in not only taking care of herself but also her dog Lucy. 

Dogs, in general, do not need as much to survive as opposed to a human child but when taking on a domesticated animal the owner has the responsibility to take care and provide for them. It means that with her remaining funds, Wendy needs to figure out a way to feed them both even if it proves undoable in moments. Desperate times call for desperate measures and what we see plays out here well and truly displays the lengths Wendy must go through in order to juggle all of these responsibilities. As we progress through this journey, this feature not only presents the hardship but poses the larger question at the center of it of whether Wendy has the obligation to allow Lucy to live with someone who can actually provide for her. 

Posing that question could lift some pitchforks but it stems from the reality of this circumstance and whether or not one must accept whether or not they serve as the best option to provide the basic necessities of someone they love. Saying that about a child feels difficult to say, but presenting this through the ownership of a dog exhibits a different dynamic. As much as we love our pets, there’s an obligation that comes with their ownership that we must accept as a privilege and not necessarily a right owed. Wendy needs to make that ultimate decision when it gets to the point where she has nowhere to go for herself much less Lucy. 

As one can imagine this feature does contain many heartbreaking scenes that outline the troubles that come with poverty and we see it in all of the small ways. It demonstrates the reality of individuals who barely have two nickels to rub together and how much it costs simply to exist as a human being. The scene where she must pay a court fee of $50 and genuinely cannot afford it really says it all as we take for granted our positions in life when someone like Wendy cannot even afford to purchase dog food. The moments we do spend with Wendy and Lucy display a lovable owner-pet relationship that will allow anyone else watching the film to connect with the joys but also the responsibility that comes with caring for the animal. Every scene of this film outside of the moments of joy between Wendy and Lucy also contains a tension of awaiting the next expense put before her that she undoubtedly would not be able to afford. God forbid Lucy need any veterinary care and the out-of-pocket costs it requires and we would see a terrifying circumstance. We know the show will eventually drop here for Wendy, which makes us treasure the small moments they share with each other. 

Putting this film together we have yet another wonderful collaboration of Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams in telling another meaningful story. Reichardt always manages to get the best out of Williams and their collaboration here has the esteemed actor doing the legwork as she dominates each frame through her performance. Williams runs the gamut of emotions in displaying everything Wendy experiences and it works beautifully with the distinct style Reichardt brings to all of her films. 

Running at a crisp 80 minutes, Wendy and Lucy bring forth a melancholic but also heartwarming tale. It operates as an ode to those individuals just trying to make things work within a ruptured economy that demands even the most basic funds for survival. Through Wendy, we see the repercussions of this and the lengths she must go through in order to provide for herself and her dog Lucy. The moments they share together capture the joy of pet ownership that anyone has also experienced can attest to but it all braces us for the reality of whether or not Wendy actually serves as the best caretaker for Lucy.