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Wendy And Lucy Essay

Decent Essays

If you are in search of an adventurous, heartwarming tale of a girl and her dog, then the 2008 Indie work Wendy and Lucy is definitely not the film for you. It has a slow progression and lacks action. This story focuses on the hardships of a young woman, Wendy, and her dog, Lucy, as they travel north to Alaska. On the way, the pair find themselves stuck in Oregon. After making some poor decisions, Wendy loses her precious Lucy and spends the remainder of the movie trying to find her. Nevertheless, despite its many faults, this movie had an overall positive impact on me. I would recommend this movie because what Wendy and Lucy lacks in action and adventure, it completely makes up for in emotional appeal and realism. This film is definitely a movie of its time. It came out during the middle of the great recession and it beautifully displayed the hardships America faced at that time. In his 2008 review of the movie, A. O. Scott breaks down this underlying theme. He proclaims, “But underneath this plain narrative surface – or rather, resting on it the way a smooth stone rests in your palm – is a lucid and melancholy inquiry into the current state of American society….’Wendy and Lucy’ find[s], in one woman’s partly self-created hard luck, an intimation of more widespread hard times ahead” (Scott, 2008). …show more content…

It draws people in on a strong emotional level through allusions to the Great Recession, as well as through Michelle Williams’ spot-on performance of the lead. Kelly Reichardt’s amazing directing and editing techniques gives this film a realistic feel, which, in turn, connects with people through relatability. All these aspects put together made this film on of the best I had seen in a long time. So, while Wendy and Lucy may not be heart-warming or adventurous, the utterly relatable story of a girl and her dog will remain an essential view for Americans for years to

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