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CERTAIN WOMEN – Review – We Are Movie Geeks

Review

CERTAIN WOMEN – Review

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certain-women

Kelly Reichardt tells American stories. They are specific to the fabric of this country and to the struggles that have been endured by the people who have weaved it together. Just judging her filmography on the surface, the films are simple. They don’t involve major events, and Reichardt presents them without many flourishes. However, there’s something profound in how she captures her characters. She’s interested in their humanity, often expressed through their emotive faces. In a Kelly Reichardt film, a woman can simply look off camera and her face can express her past and present predicaments. Although it may be a simple shot, there is nothing simple about the feelings being explored. 

These internal struggles are at the center of three stories in CERTAIN WOMEN. Each woman in the film is battling to be recognized in a world where their voices can barely be heard. They are stories that don’t begin or end with a big reveal; they don’t aspire to transcend the moment they exist in. Any yet, when set against the rural picturesque landscapes, Reichardt continues the filmic tradition of shining a light on the loneliness of middle America.

A lawyer (Laura Dern) struggles with balancing her personal life and an overdemanding  client (Jared Harris) who may be teetering on a mental breakdown. Meanwhile, a wife and mother (Michelle Williams) is thinking about her company and potential dream home while struggling to be respected. Finally, a young law student (Kristin Stewart) apprehensively agrees to teach a class on law, miles from her home and forms a bond with a lonely ranch hand (Lily Gladstone).

Michelle Williams – the muse equivalent of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese – collaborates with Reichardt for a third time. Her unspoken moments speak volumes, like many of the, characters in the film. Williams has perfectly mastered the look of confliction. She plays a woman who has both accepted her role in this male-dominated world, and yet, still has moments of wavering doubt while exposing her fragility. Who is a standout and relatively new to the big screen is Lily Gladstone. Opposite Kirsten Stewart, Gladstone shows a restrained anticipation that is hard to convey. She handles the task with skill that’s worthy of note. When she looks at Kristen Stewart, her soul is split open for all to witness.

Amid the wide open grassy fields, snowy peaks, and small town streets, there are questions. Kelly Reichardt adapts Maile Meloy’s stories with a  delicate hand and isn’t afraid to leave stories with an ellipsis. There are more to these stories of four ordinary women. Although lacking in significance or grandeur, CERTAIN WOMEN encapsulates everyday problems in a way that hasn’t been felt since the films of John Cassavetes.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

CERTAIN WOMEN is now playing in limited release and opens at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema on October 28

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I enjoy sitting in large, dark rooms with like-minded cinephiles and having stories unfold before my eyes.