Lone Star International Film Festival 2008

Proving why she is one of the most highly-regarded auteurs of current cinema, Kelly Reichardt's ("Old Joy") subtle storytelling technique uses a formal minimalist style to weave together a unique emotional and political road film. Wendy Carol is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in the 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 Lucy. Wendy And Lucy addresses issues of sympathy and generosity at the edges of American life, revealing the limits and depths of people’s duty to each other in tough times. Co-written by Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt's deeply affecting Wendy and Lucy, like her 2006 film Old Joy, combines an intimate personal story with a reflection of the malaise felt in the country today, her economic hardship typical of people adrift in a society in which they no longer feel a part