Wendy and Lucy
Encyclopedia
Wendy and Lucy is a 2008
American
drama film
directed by Kelly Reichardt
. Reichardt and Jon Raymond adapted the screenplay from his short story "Train Choir". The film stars Michelle Williams
and Will Patton
. It had its world première at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
and was screened at several additional film festivals before receiving a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 10, 2008.
) is a young woman who sets her sights on Alaska
in hopes of starting a new life with her dog Lucy, travelling in her car with limited supplies and a straining budget of a little over $500 left for the trip. Stranded in Oregon
when her car breaks down and lacking the funds to repair it, Wendy faces yet another challenge when she is apprehended for shoplifting and Lucy disappears while she is in police custody.
. Wendy and Lucy was placed at 87 on Slant Magazine
's best films of the 2000s.
, Newsweek
, The Austin Chronicle, LA Weekly
, The Philadelphia Inquirer
, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
, Entertainment Weekly
, The New York Times
, The Oregonian
, Slate
, The Village Voice
, and The Christian Science Monitor
.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt is a screenwriter and film director working within American indie cinema. Her debut film River of Grass was released in 1994. It was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, as well as the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. In 1999, she completed her sophomore...
. Reichardt and Jon Raymond adapted the screenplay from his short story "Train Choir". The film stars Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams (actress)
Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...
and Will Patton
Will Patton
William Rankin "Will" Patton is an American actor.-Life and career:Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of three children. His father is Bill Patton, a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University...
. It had its world première at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
2008 Cannes Film Festival
The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 14 to May 25, 2008. In addition to films selected for competition this year, major Hollywood productions such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Kung Fu Panda had their world premieres at the festival.The British press...
and was screened at several additional film festivals before receiving a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 10, 2008.
Plot
Wendy Carroll (Michelle WilliamsMichelle Williams (actress)
Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...
) is a young woman who sets her sights on Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
in hopes of starting a new life with her dog Lucy, travelling in her car with limited supplies and a straining budget of a little over $500 left for the trip. Stranded in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
when her car breaks down and lacking the funds to repair it, Wendy faces yet another challenge when she is apprehended for shoplifting and Lucy disappears while she is in police custody.
Cast
- Michelle WilliamsMichelle Williams (actress)Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...
..... Wendy Carroll - Will PattonWill PattonWilliam Rankin "Will" Patton is an American actor.-Life and career:Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of three children. His father is Bill Patton, a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University...
..... Mechanic - Walter Dalton ..... Security Guard
- Will OldhamWill OldhamWill Oldham , better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music...
..... Icky - John RobinsonJohn Robinson (American actor)John Robinson is an American actor. He portrayed John McFarland in Gus Van Sant's Elephant and Stacy Peralta in the skateboarding film Lords of Dogtown....
..... Andy - Deirdre O'ConnellDeirdre O'Connell (actress)Deirdre O'Connell is an American character actress who has worked extensively on stage, screen, and television.O'Connell began her career at Stage One, an experimental theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts...
..... Deb - Lucy as Herself
- Larry Fressenden as Man in Park
Critical reception
The film won both Best Picture and Best Actress at the 12th Toronto Film Critics Association AwardsToronto Film Critics Association Awards 2008
The 12th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2008, were given on December 17, 2008. -Winners:*Best Actor:**Mickey Rourke – The WrestlerRunners-Up: Sean Penn – Milk and Jean-Claude Van Damme – JCVD...
. Wendy and Lucy was placed at 87 on Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
's best films of the 2000s.
Top ten lists
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008, including those of the Chicago Reader, New York PostNew York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, The Austin Chronicle, LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
, Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, and The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
.
External links
- Metronatural America movie review by Jonathan RabanJonathan RabanJonathan Raban is a British travel writer and novelist. He has received several awards, such as the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Royal Society of Literature's Heinemann Award, the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the PEN West Creative Nonfiction Award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers...
from The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...