"Wendy and Lucy" tells a melancholic and harshly realistic story about what it's like living off you're last bit of money. As Wendy's struggles grow within the limited Oregon setting, it becomes clear just how bad her situation really is. Although the plot is limited, I found myself intrigued - not by some grandiose story - but by the humanism explored within this film. Kelly Reichardt's movie is not overly cinematic, nor is it spectacular and filled with wonderment, but it is human. It excels in portraying realistic characters who are struggling with problems most of us can empathize with.

On her way to Alaska where she hopes to find a job, young Wendy stops off in a small town in Oregon. She is travelling with her dog, Lucy, the only being who truly cares for her, and the only one that she cares for. But money runs short after a series of incidents, and Lucy disappears. From such an unexciting, not to say banal, premise, Reichardt creates a neorealist film for 21st-century America. By simply observing the harsh reality of unemployment, homelessness and the absence of healthcare, she avoids all sentimentalism to leave only the raw emotions emanating from an encounter with unfairness in a very real world. Similarly, Wendy barely cries at all despite her hardships – she only accepts other people's help with great resignation. She is at odds with her environment, a small figure against a grand background. She is rarely photographed at the centre of the frame, except when she is with Lucy. Circumstances have no compassion, but this film is about how Wendy is strong enough to accept them.

I liked this movie for its minimalism and its characters. Its protagonist is a weak individual whose main source of emotional support is her dog. In the end she can't even protect the dog and leaves her with a better provider, thus leaving herself completely alone. This story is a kind of minor tragedy that emphasizes the downside of American individualism and what happens to a person when his or her support group collapses and they have nothing left. At the start of the picture Wendy's car breaks down and she meets the security guard that helps her push her car off of the parking lot. The guard represents the sole example of human kindness that Wendy experiences the movie. Wendy foolishly attempts to shop lift food for her dog and gets caught and sent to jail. She has to pay a large fine and her dog is gone when she is released. The rest of the movie is Wendy's search for her dog which she finds at the end. Her decision to leave her dog with the new owner is a personal tragedy for her because, as we see in the final scene, she is totally alone in a freight car facing a dangerous and uncertain future. I see this movie in political terms. Republicans that despise the poor and weak will hate this movie for the sympathy that it shows for Wendy. Most American movies emphasize strength or defiance in the face of injustice or adversity. The most that Wendy can do is cry in despair and cling to an improbable hope for the future. This is the core of the film's realism. Without a support group we are all like Wendy. The American myth of the rugged individual is a stupid lie.