Showing Up

I've been a fan of Kelly Reichardt's other movies, notably "Wendy and Lucy" and "First Cow," but this one left me cold. Michelle Williams plays a sullen and mousy artist who walks around in a fog of frustration over not having enough time for her art because of the demands of other people. I can get on board with a slow burn that reveals bits and pieces of a character's inner life that finally coalesces into something like a whole. But that doesn't happen here. At the very end of the movie, there are some moments that I liked and finally made me start to understand some of the circumstances that contributed to Williams's character being the way she was. But then the movie just abruptly ended, and the pay off was not anywhere near recompense for the tediously slow and border line boring movie that led up to it. There is a running storyline with an injured pigeon that results in obvious and over used symbolism. Grade: C+

There's a sculptor who has a glass and it's half empty, lives in a world full of despair that's just not carefree, no hot water in her tap, things are generally just crap, she is the epitome of gloom and misery. Then a pigeon pays a call and gets cat mauled, this leaves the artist most annoyed, slightly appalled, but she sends it on its way, it returns boxed up next day, a bird that's clearly been well trained, you'll be enthralled! (it's a talented bird) The mood continues to be more downbeat and muted, as the artist gets her pieces executed, familial issues do not please, as her brother eats the cheese, but that's the price you have to pay, when your deep-rooted. Wonderful performances and great dialogue, but not a lot else.

The instant knee jerk negative reviews on this site are a testament to folks who have no taste. Please look at what they like and you'll see what I mean. Folks who love to hate and blindly love mediocre products without any nuanced thought of story telling and the human condition. Movies like this require patience and understanding of subtlety. One of these people gave "A dogs purpose" 9/10. Case closed Anyways. This was a quality film. Another great story from Kelly R. I always appreciated how she took her time with the characters in her stories. Letting natural chemistry take over. Using silence over dialogue and things left unsaid. Slow, but not bad slow. Just more of a good pace I felt comfortable watching it. I like when an indie film doesn't go out all to try to be super quirky, witty and well, "indie". Just a slice of life tale. Both Michelle Williams and Hong Chau play low key rivals as they navigate the world of art shows and small misadventures/interactions with their little community While being passive towards one another. They have great banter and you can feel the tension without it turning into a soap opera. Williams once again gives us a raw performance The film isn't here to make a huge point, nor move us to tears/laughter. I think it's more about the brooding and melancholic lives of people just trying to express themselves and feeling lost in the process. Characters have This free spirit about themselves. They aimlessly wander and wax on about themselves their projects. All desperate to get noticed and make it big. Yet despite the parties and communal group gatherings, I sensed this massive disconnect. So much getting in the way. Egos, repressed emotions, neurosis and mental illness unfortunately. Always better to show, not tell. Which is what the director does good here. I think they know where they stand though. Their awareness and intelligence are their worst enemies. Overall this was a nice little film. I'd probably watch again.

This director is known for making arthouse pictures that arent targetted at a mass audience. These are the kind of small pictures filmcritics love to watch, but I cant get excited about. The bad: this movie is literally going nowhere. We get to see the mondane and boring life of an artist. We get to see her take care of a pigeon. Talk to her landlady etc. It's just one contineous lame uneventful portrait. More bad: I started watching it for Michelle Williams, who has starred in some excellent pictures in the past. She can act! And although the purpose of her acting performance is to portray an uneventful life of a mundane artist, her performance didnt entice me for one second. Only suited for fans of this director's work. Others better pass this incredibly tedious movie by...

Reading the professional reviews for this film would normally reveal a modicum of truth but, instead, the reviewers convince us that they're making a silk purse out of a pig's ear. I'll watch Michelle Williams in anything but why spend the money for her talents when any aspiring actor could frown her way through this dud? Waiting for something - anything - meaningful to happen is a fool's errand. When waiting to see if a water heater finally arrived is a main focus of the film, I realized that I blundered into the wrong film. In the final scene. Lizzy and Jo "walk off into the sunset". We couldn't hear them but I suspect that they were whispering "Thank god we're getting paid."