Trailer: The Minimalism Of 'Wendy & Lucy' With Michell Williams

Kelly Reichardt’s minimalist look at poverty, sympathy and generosity at the fringes of American life, “Wendy & Lucy,” has a trailer. Bolstered by a devastating, quiet and internalized performance by Michelle Williams (that is certainly Oscar-worthy), the film painfully depicts the limits and depths people must tread to survive through tough times. Oscilloscope Pictures who is putting out the picture in December writes, “Williams has already garnered critics’ attention for her haunting performance, as she conveys ‘an inexorable sense of longing for something more than life has given her,’ Scott Foundas, Variety.

It’s true, Williams is onscreen almost every second in the film and it’s a testament to her character’s pained and grueling existence and how deftly its portrayed, that the uber-bare-bones nature of “Wendy & Lucy,” stays afloat. We really hope she gets an Oscar nod, but as usual, we’re skeptical. There isn’t much of a story per se to ‘W & L,’; a woman is poor and loses her dog, but you can’t take your eyes off Williams.

Wendy Carroll (Michelle Williams) is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far-ranging repercussions for herself and her dog.