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Wendy and Lucy Review

Movies.com Critics

5.0

Dave White Profile

...sorrowful, minimalist... Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 4.0
    80

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Generally favorable reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 50

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter

    Michelle Williams does her best but she cannot prevent Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy, a weak tale about being broke and on the road in rural America, from dwindling into boredom.

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  • 80

    out of 100

    Variety Scott Foundas

    "Old Joy" helmer Kelly Reichardt plays to her strengths in Wendy and Lucy, a modest yet deeply felt road movie about an idealistic young drifter, her faithful canine and the wide-open spaces of the Pacific Northwest.

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  • 88

    out of 100

    USA Today Claudia Puig

    An evocative film with a believable and subtly enthralling lead performance that gets deeply under your skin.

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  • 88

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    Another illustration of how absorbing a film can be when the plot doesn't stand between us and a character.

    Read Full Review

  • 90

    out of 100

    The New York Times A.O. Scott

    What will happen to her? The strength of this short, simple, perfect story of a young woman and her dog is that this does not seem, by the end, to be an idle or trivial question. What happens to Wendy -- and to Lucy -- matters a lot, which is to say that Wendy and Lucy, for all its modesty, matters a lot too.

    Read Full Review

  • 90

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times

    Williams' performance is remarkable not only for its depth but for its stillness.

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  • 91

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

    Wendy and Lucy is like "Lassie Come Home" directed by Antonioni. What's piercing about it, and also disturbing, is that Reichardt views the renunciation of society with something close to righteous purity -- as a lefty romantic dream.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Wendy and Lucy reviews at Metacritic.com

Fan Reviews provided by

5

A Sad, Beautiful, and Important Film by WinstonSmith
No, WENDY AND LISA is not the mindless, upbeat fantasy that most of the other reviewers seemed to expect that it would be (didn't they watch the preview?). Instead, it is a poignant and courageous examination of the grim economic conditions in a declining United States. Thank goodness that a few artists, such as the director of this movie and the actress Michelle Williams, can address these realities in a compassionate way, and thus take up for the impoverished, the homeless, and the disenfranchised...groups that the very people who dissed this movie may soon be joining. WAKE UP AMERICA, YOUR COUNTRY IS GONE.

4

Lovely Film for a Small Audience by heddache
I really enjoyed it but wouldn't recommend it to most people. Only if you enjoy quiet, contemplative, understated movies where it's more of an experience of a time, place, character or circumstance. If you enjoy films that don't give you everything and you get to wonder about all that isn't spelled out for you, this film is for you. Michelle Williams was wonderful, gave a performance that was mysterious and touching, vulnerable yet tough. In many ways this is the very definition of a small, independent film. Enjoyed by few, but for those who enjoy it it's a gift.

5

wendy and lucy a wonderful moving film by saenz-movies
the movie was a wonderful and moving film. the film "an unqualified triumph" and that "Williams gives a prodigiously focused and resourceful performance." the director of the film Ms. Reichardt makes palpably, tragically real what it means to be struggling at the very edge of the economic abyss. WENDY AND LUCY is political to the bone but without any of the usual grandstanding. I believe the film is a keenly observational look at the increasing struggle to just get through the day. With a riveting, delicate performance by Michelle Williams, the film builds to something enigmatic and moving. I totally recommend people to see this beauty of a wonderful film so go see it

3

The second most bleak & depressing movie I've ever seen by spamtrap
I thought watching the kid slowly die in Lorenzo's Oil, combined with Nick Nolte trying to speak in an Italian accent, was the most bleak and depressing movie experience ever. "Wendy and Lucy" is a close second. It's not nearly as bad of a movie overall though. Like writer/director Kelly Reichardt's previous film, 2006's "Old Joy", "Wendy and Lucy" is a movie about nothing in the Seinfeldian sense. (Seinfeld claimed to be a show about nothing but was really about the trivial day to day events we all experience.) Where "Old Joy" followed 2 friends on an uneventful overnight camping trip, "Wendy and Lucy" follows a young woman and her dog (also 2 friends) on a slightly more eventful trip which begins in Wendy's broken down car in a Walgreen's parking lot and ends just a day or two later with her wandering around the same north Portland, Oregon neighborhood. Suffering a string of bad luck, you could call Wendy the George Costanza of the film while her dog is Kramer. An OK film.

1

The joke is on me....the audience by FRONT_ROW_
This has got to be one of the LAMEST excuses EVER for a movie. It is not even worthy of TV time. SPOILER ALERT: Homeless girl on a tight budget and a junk car heads to Alaska. The car breaks down in Oregon. Girl tries to steal dog food because of said tight budget. Girl gets arrested and dog that was tied up while she was in jail goes missing. The ENTIRE movie was girl trying to retrieve her dog back while working with a security guard and the local pound. The girl finds dog and he is in a good foster home. She is broke because her car broke down so she leaves the dog in the new nice home with a nice backyard. Homeless girl walks down railroad tracks in defeat. The end. Painfully bad script. Save yourself and your money.

5

Wendy and Lucy by Lazy_Pants
So far this is the one movie i've actually been waiting to see all year. I think it's gonna be a great film!!!!

1

by m1sn0m3r

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