I’ve been interested in this film ever since I saw Kelly Reichardt’s critically-acclaimed Old Joy two years ago. But while Wendy and Lucy received mostly positive notices on the festival circuit, the occasional negative reviews have given me pause, since they almost invariably label it as “miserablism”, not something I generally respond to in cinema. But whether Wendy and Lucy ends up doing it for me, it’s the kind of movie I’m glad someone is making in America, since most movies about poverty tend to be about people finding a way to escape it in spite of the reality that it’s much more of a trap that most non-poor people realize. In addition, I’m glad to see that Michelle Williams is continuing to diversify as an actress, not just because it’ll help her become something more than the ex-Heath Ledger, but also because she’s so much more interesting in roles like this than in cookie-cutter leading-lady parts.