Showing Up

When I come across a film thats the cinematic equivalent of witnessing the emperors nakedness, I feel compelled to shout it from the rooftops, something I would readily do with regard to this latest comedy-drama from director Kelly Reichardt. This plodding, insular, minimalist, frequently inscrutable offering tells the story (if it can even be called that) of a Portland ceramic sculpture artist (Michelle Williams) struggling to create her works for an upcoming gallery show when faced with the distracting burdens of mundane domestic crises and incendiary but largely unexplained family issues. However, little happens here, and the narrative is more of a showcase for the movies artwork than a vehicle with a definable plot, a problem further en...

Try as I might,I just don't get Michelle Williams' style of rather moody and laconic delivery. She just always underwhelms me, and here is no different. This time she is "Lizzy" whose cat has an altercation with a pigeon which she chucks out of the door only for it to be rescued by her neighbour/landlord "Jo" (Hong Chau). Now she seems much more concerned about this rat with wings than she does with her lodger's frustrating lack of hot water. Anyway, pretty soon the pair are sharing the task of helping it recover the use of it's wing whilst "Lizzy" gets to grips with a forthcoming exhibition of her sculptures. That's the first ten minutes, thereafter we head down a more familiar dramatic route with a bit of a (quite entertaining) disaster t...