Wendy and Lucy (2008)

Kino International

Daughters of the Dust

Film.com's FREE movie of the week is "Daughters of the Dust." A film that portrays the unique culture of the Gullah people by focusing on the extended Peazant family as its members struggle with the decision to leave their island and move north. On the eve of their departure, memories of their Gullah history and its African roots come rising to the surface. Winner of Cinematography at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival.

Rolling Stone

Rating: R

Release Date: Dec 19, 2008

Running Time: 80 mins.

Country Of Origin: United States

starring: Michelle Williams, Will Patton, John Robinson, Will Oldham, Walter Dalton, Larry Fessenden, David Koppell, Max Clement, Sid Shanley, Dave Hubner

director: Kelly Reichardt

Wendy and Lucy

Wendy Carroll is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in 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.

PETER TRAVERS - December 25, 2008

Simple story, beautifully told. A distressed dropout named Wendy (the sublime Michelle Williams) and her dog Lucy hop in her beat-up Honda and leave Indiana for Alaska, Wendy's cautious hope for a new frontier. But when the car dies in Oregon and Lucy goes missing, Wendy faces hard choices and a hard-pressed America that keeps closing doors. I won't say more, except that director and co-writer Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy) is a true cinema poet who works miracles in miniature. And she finds the…