Best this month:

Wendy and Lucy

Themes of poverty and resourcefulness run through this film

Wendy and Lucy, now on DVD, puts a face and story around a reality of current-day life in America — the hundreds of thousands of people who are just a step away from dire poverty and homelessness.

Looking for her lost dog, her only friend, Wendy (Michelle Williams) struggles on her way to Alaska.

With only a limited amount of cash, Wendy (Michelle Williams) is driving to Alaska to work in a cannery. Her only companion is her beloved dog, Lucy.

Then police question her after her car breaks down in a small Oregon town. While she is inside the station, Lucy disappears. Her love for her only friend forms the spine of the story, and we keenly feel Wendy’s pain and frustration as she looks for her dog. Without a social network to look after her, Wendy is at the mercy of circumstances and can rely only on her own resourcefulness to get out of trouble.

This powerful film directed by Kelly Reichardt touches the heart because there are so many people around the country just like Wendy (Oscilloscope, 2009, R—for language).