Rather than bump the post release thread...
Deceptively simple. It really sticks with you for a couple days, and raises a lot of interesting questions.
How does a person fall through the cracks of American life? The film shows how easy it is to lose, in little increments, your things, your dignity, and, eventually, your way. But why this happens isn't always as easy to trace as how it happens. Wendy and Lucy picks up with Wendy in mid-slide, but we don't know that yet.
The story begins and ends with the leitmotif of Wendy's humming a particular tune, and throughout the film it moves from serene, to melancholy, and eventually winds up at disturbing. It is unclear how much of Wendy's fall is based on her circumstances, and how much stems from being emotionally troubled. Is her trip to Alaska with her dog an effort to find a new life with her true and loyal friend, only to be derailed by hard times, bad luck, and worse timing? Or is it a young woman pushing herself to the margins, with Lucy being the last vestiges of an emotional connection to others? Midway through the film, when she says Alaska "needs people", it feels less like a statement of economic opportunity and more like a glimpse into feelings of estrangement from those around her.
The film is never overtly political, but it does take a shot at a certain segment by having a young store clerk who catches Wendy shoplifting dog food arrogantly state that people who can't take care of dogs shouldn't own them. To the film's credit, most of the people it presents are decent, and not unwilling to help Wendy in what ways they can. The problem is, after a certain point, it's rare for anyone to be able to do enough to stem the tide. For Wendy, the two thousand dollar auto bill she gets might as well be two million. For the auto repair place, it's cheaper just to scrap it. And the film leaves you wondering if, on some level, the same type of calculus is being applied to people like Wendy.
Deceptively simple. It really sticks with you for a couple days, and raises a lot of interesting questions.
How does a person fall through the cracks of American life? The film shows how easy it is to lose, in little increments, your things, your dignity, and, eventually, your way. But why this happens isn't always as easy to trace as how it happens. Wendy and Lucy picks up with Wendy in mid-slide, but we don't know that yet.
The story begins and ends with the leitmotif of Wendy's humming a particular tune, and throughout the film it moves from serene, to melancholy, and eventually winds up at disturbing. It is unclear how much of Wendy's fall is based on her circumstances, and how much stems from being emotionally troubled. Is her trip to Alaska with her dog an effort to find a new life with her true and loyal friend, only to be derailed by hard times, bad luck, and worse timing? Or is it a young woman pushing herself to the margins, with Lucy being the last vestiges of an emotional connection to others? Midway through the film, when she says Alaska "needs people", it feels less like a statement of economic opportunity and more like a glimpse into feelings of estrangement from those around her.
The film is never overtly political, but it does take a shot at a certain segment by having a young store clerk who catches Wendy shoplifting dog food arrogantly state that people who can't take care of dogs shouldn't own them. To the film's credit, most of the people it presents are decent, and not unwilling to help Wendy in what ways they can. The problem is, after a certain point, it's rare for anyone to be able to do enough to stem the tide. For Wendy, the two thousand dollar auto bill she gets might as well be two million. For the auto repair place, it's cheaper just to scrap it. And the film leaves you wondering if, on some level, the same type of calculus is being applied to people like Wendy.
