I just finished watching Wendy and Lucy, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wendy_and_lucy/, which I very much enjoyed. The story line is pretty simple. A young woman played very well by Michelle Williams, Wendy, and her dog, Lucy, on her way to Alaska to hopefully get a good paying job is stranded in a small town in Oregon when her car breaks down. With little money to have the car fixed, Wendy is arrested for shoplifting and Lucy is gone when Wendy returns. The rest of the movie covers the events that follow as Wendy continues to search for Lucy and faces more and more difficult choices.
It is not a long movie, 80 minutes, telling a pretty simple, and pretty sad, story. It never went into wide theatrical release, earning less than $1m total at the box office, though it won a number of awards and was named to a number of best 10 film lists for 2008. It tells a story of how difficult it can be for people who are having financial difficulties and do not have family or personal connections to provide some grounding for their lives. It is not a gritty film, the story line is much simpler.
There are many reasons to watch a movie, or read a book. Sometimes it is the action and adventure of the story. Sometimes it is an opportunity to experience something that one would otherwise not be able to. Sometimes to share in the life of someone who you often come to care about, experiencing their highs and lows as if they were your own. Thankfully I do not share personally Wendy’s life situation, but found myself thinking about those who do. In that sense I feel the makers of Wendy and Lucy perhaps achieved what they were trying to accomplish.
Next on the Netflix queue is the John Adams series with Paul Giamatti.