“This movie was getting quite a bit of awards buzz for Michelle Williams when it was released. I was always hesitant to watch it though. It seemed like it would be slow and depressing. When Oscar nominees were announced and her name wasn’t on the list, I mostly forgot about it. Occassionally, I’d hear mention of the film and praise for our leading lady, but never got around to seeing it. When I saw it on the indie shelf at the video store after the prices had gone down, I snatched it up. As with some of the other selections I’ve been blogging, this was one that the video store guy called out while ringing me up. He asked me if I’d seen it, and I gave a shorter version of what I said earlier in this paragraph. He assured me it was really good.
Turns out, my initial instinct was correct. It was depressing and slow. Doesn’t mean it was bad or that I didn’t like it (at least not entirely). Williams has packed up what little she had in her life into her car and is on the way to Alaska for a fresh start. Somewhere in Oregon, things start to go wrong. Her car breaks down, she loses her beloved dog, she’s running out of money, and pretty much everything else you could imagine. Not exactly an uplifting film.
Williams does give a very good and very real performance. It doesn’t take long to start to care for her character. I’d say that I wish there were more that happened, but that would destroy the realism.”