Showing Up

“4-Stars…. the rare filmmaker who can capture a state of mind on film.”
– Mick LaSalle, SF Chronicle

Lizzie (Michelle Williams) has a gallery show in a week. It would be nice to concentrate on her work. But like most of us, she is occupied by earning a living and keeping a roof over her head. At the Oregon College of Art and Craft her boss is her mom, so there’s that. And her landlady, Joanne (Hong Chau) is both a more successful artist, and infuriatingly unconcerned that her hot water isn’t working and she hasn’t been able to shower in days.

Set in Portland, Kelly Reichardt’s latest collaboration with Michelle Williams (after Wendy and Lucy, Certain Women, and Meek’s Cutoff) is a different kind of art movie. Not quite the satire you might expect, it’s a gently observant, wry, understated film about the exigencies, frustrations and modest fulfillment of carving out a creative life without much reward or recognition. Ironically, that’s a life many will recognize… –  Vancouver International Film Festival.

Directed by Kelly Reichardt. Written by Jonathan Raymond & Kelly Reichardt. With Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, André 3000, James Le Gros, Amanda Plummer & Judd Hirsch.

“A movie of feints, digressions, sidelong humor, and the randomness of life intruding on the purpose of life… In its lovely way, SHOWING UP locates that place where art and life intersect, as each becomes the other.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety