Certain Women (2016) User Reviews

A slow drama that fails to fully engage

[eddie_baggins · 5/10 · 24 October 2017]

It doesn't seem as though indie darling Kelly Reichardt will be changing her directing tact anytime soon.

Becoming well known for her intimate, slow-moving and character driven character studies (that more often than not star Michelle Williams), Reichardt's film aren't for everyone but there is often a quiet power to Reichardt's stories that can't be denied.

Hitting a peak with lost dog drama Wendy and Lucy and losing her way with the sleep inducing female driven western Meek's Cutoff, Certain Women is middle of the road Reichardt that see's the Florida born filmmaker examine the lives of 3 separate women in the American state of Montana, each going through their own various journey's in this great big world.

There's barely an ounce of character development or backstory as we're thrust into these women's everyday lives, from Laura Dern's lawyer Laura dealings with Jared Harris's potentially dangerous client Fuller, Michelle William's hardworking mother and wife Gina and Lily Gladstone's The Rancher's strange fondness for Kristin Stewart's class instructor Elizabeth and while these women's stories are intriguing to a sense, there's never a good enough set-up or reward to truly make this intertwining story truly memorable.

As per usual with a Reichardt film, Certain Women looks great in a quietly poetic way and the acting is universally good, without ever delivering any big character moments or situations for Reichardt's cast to shine at their brightest levels but it's hard to fully invest yourself into a film that feels rather emotionally cold and a problem that sometimes manifests itself in such narrative structures, some of Certain Women's most interesting plot points seem to end as we're thrust back into another characters life, making us feel as though we're being a little ripped off by a story that had more to give us.

Final Say –

Reichardt's ponderous and deliberately paced drama will be a treat for her small yet passionate fan base while for the rest of us, Certain Women is a well-intentioned and finely acted drama that never hooks us into its world in a way that would've made it more readily accessible and easily recommendable.

2 ½ short-legged farm dogs out of 5

Certain Women is purely indie. There is no drama, there is no comedy, it is just slices of people's lives at which, to some, maybe their dullest moments.

[Amari-Sali · 6/10 · 8 October 2016]

The story is split between three characters. There is Laura Wells (Laura Dern) who is a lawyer for this man named Will Fuller (Jared Harris) who is just a miserable man thanks to a work accident. Alongside her is Gina Lewis (Michelle Williams) who is a woman who, with her husband, owns a company and they are trying to acquire sandstone from a man named Albert (Rene Auberjonois). Lastly, there is Jamie (Lily Gladstone) and Beth (Kristen Stewart).

Jamie is a young woman who takes care of horses, keeps to herself, and doesn't seem to have much in the way of friends. Beth is a young woman who is a lawyer who, through reasons not fully explained, ends up teaching a class on school law in the town Jamie works in. Jamie enjoys her company and Beth mostly is just cordial.

Highlights

I think every now and then a person should really see a movie which isn't trying to be over the top with the dramatics. For a lack of a better way of putting it, it cleans your palate. It helps you appreciate the lives people live, whether characters or real people, and how even the one or two odd connections we have can mean so much to someone.

For whether it is Laura and Will, Gina and Albert, or Jamie and Beth, one of the things this film highlights is one-half of each set being lonely and may not outright say they are craving attention, camaraderie, or someone to listen, but their actions speak volumes. Mind you, not to the point of crying or bawling your eyes out, but without anything being over the top, it pushes you to really pay attention to find something to grasp onto.

Low Points

With that said, this film was honestly boring as hell. I can try to make it seem like more than it is by speaking on how it focuses on the loneliness of life in parts of Montana but, at the end of the day, everyone is a square peg. For while Will can be slightly erratic, demanding, and likes reminding you how much of a victim he is, no one is really trying to engage him. They talk to him, but there aren't any passionate speeches or stories which make you care about what is going on in his life.

Same goes for everyone else. Albert is old and seemingly coming to the beginning of that point where he may need someone to check on him every now and then. Then with Jamie, she is a nice quiet girl who needs a friend that isn't a farm animal. Each story is sad in its own way and may make you think how luckily you are to have the connections you do have, but everything is so subtle and subdued that I think the appeal will be limited.

An uneven triptych

[ReganRebecca · 7/10 · 9 January 2017]

Kelly Reichardt is one of those director/writers who has made it their focus to film, the unfilmable, ordinary people in their downtime simply reacting or not reacting to things. This is all well and good, and each piece of Certain Women works beautifully on their own, but as a collection pulled together it feels random and unfocused and not in a good way.

The three stories of Certain Women are all set in and around the same small town in Montana and are also loosely connected (a few side characters show up in different segments which are more of a distraction than a convincing narrative thread). The women of the three stories are Laura (Laura Dern) a personal injury lawyer dealing with a disabled and embittered client who won't accept that he signed away his rights, Gina (Reichardt's muse Michelle Williams, working with her fort the third time) an uptight woman trying to get the material needed for her dream home, and Jamie (newcomer Lily Gladstone, amazing), a lonely rancher who unexpectedly falls for a lawyer she meets in the strangest of circumstances. The stories are all very undramatic and subtle but in Reichardt's hands the material absolutely sings. There is a lot of depth and nuance to these characters and it is wonderful to watch them. Unfortunately she does not afford equal time to all the characters and this has the effect of making her film feel lopsided.

The best segment in the film is the one with Gladstone's rancher, and I sincerely wish that Reichardt had worked out a way to pad it out with 40 more minutes of material because at 50 minutes it is the longest segment by far and it is the most interesting and the most poignant.

Strong women, weak men, strong story.

[JohnDeSando · 1 November 2016]

Director Kelly Reicart knows strong women and the strong circumstances they've faced moving West (Meek's Cutoff) and more than 100 years later the modern Northwest (Certain Women). Big Sky Country, Montana, is the modern setting: Billings, Bozeman, and environs, the places where three women are ignored by men, misunderstood by both men and women, and call many of the shots that may end up putting food on their tables and courage in their hearts.

Although feminists should be proud of the three heroines in Certain Women, their actions are not so much the stuff of heroics as they mostly navigate around misogyny and sloth in a world that mostly listens to men first even if the women are right most of the time.

Laura Wells (Laura Dern) is an attorney with not really a thriving practice, but she gets along. One client, Fuller (Jared Harris), is a worker trying in vain to get more compensation for an accident while he slowly becomes derailed. In the most fraught incident of the trilogy, she must enter a building with a bullet-proof vest to face him as he holds a guard hostage. That she is the one to confront him, and not a crisis squad, is one of the stories' touches that clarifies why the heroines are "certain" women.

Gina Lewis (Michelle Williams) is building a prairie house, part of which will be built with a pile of stones, she, not her husband, tries to convince an old man to sell. Her quiet resolve in the face of mostly feckless men is not so much heroic as it is her certainty that she must be the strong one.

Jamie (Lily Gladstone), a portly ranch hand who falls for an evening school teacher-lawyer, Beth Travis (Kristen Stewart), is the least glamorous of the three (no I Phone for this cowgirl) but with an inner depth that eclipses the other two. Jamie and Beth's evening ride to the diner on a horse is romantic in a subtle way rarely seen before.

If you think I haven't described anything dramatically worthy of a full-length motion picture, you're right. The real drama bleeds out of the actors' interior depictions, the personal strength that overcomes diminishment by the vast plains, snow-capped mountains, and weak men.

Because the three episodes are derived from native Maile Maloy's short stories, Certain Women is a tour de force of feminism disguised as rambling stories of women making a hard living in a hard West. Hooray for them as the cowboys and the horses are not the real forces at work.

A good and unique indie film

[proud_luddite · 7/10 · 10 February 2018]

In rural / small-town Montana, three stories interact: a lawyer (Laura Dern) seems unable to set boundaries with an ex-client (Jared Harris) who is unhinged and deranged; a rather uptight woman (Michelle Williams) tries to find motivation in building a new home even though her husband and teenage daughter are growing more and more distant from her; a young rancher (Lily Gladstone) is infatuated with a recent law graduate (Kristen Stewart) who arrives in her town twice a week to teach an educational law night class.

"Certain Women" is written and directed by Kelly Reichardt and based on short stories by Maile Meloy. Like other Reichardt films (her best is "Meek's Cutoff" (2010)), this one tells so much in the unspoken word - where a silent reply says so much more than a bluntly worded statement. She is blessed with a superb cast who can make the viewer feel so much with a camera lingering on their faces.

It's tempting to think "nothing is happening" at the beginning of each segment. But once viewers catch on to Reinhardt's unique style, they can see that a lot is actually happening. The Gladstone/Stewart story stands out for various reasons and not just the great acting (Gladstone rightly won many awards for her performance). It provides a great re-telling of the tragic story of someone having a crush on another who aspires to be (or already is) in a higher class in the socioeconomic hierarchy.

Their story, like the others, have a theme of loneliness and isolation even for those who are surrounded by people. This film has a special and unique charm that is quite rewarding. - dbamateurcritic.

the power of stillness

[ferguson-6 · 8/10 · 13 October 2016]

Greetings again from the darkness. This is surely one of the most intriguing movies of the year that is about women and by a woman. Writer/director Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, 2008) has adapted the short stories from Maile Meloy into a film with 3 segments focusing on the daily perseverance of three women in small town Montana (including a rare Wyoming joke).

The first segment has lawyer Laura Dern returning to the office after an … umm … "long lunch meeting". Waiting for her is her client played by Jared Harris ("Mad Men"). The frustration between the two is palpable. Things take a turn for the worse as the sheriff calls Dern to the scene where Harris has taken a hostage at gunpoint. The issues on display here include the lack of respect for a female attorney, her unsatisfying personal life, and the one-way trust that can happen in times of desperation.

In the next story, we follow Michelle Williams and her husband James LeGros as they meet with a lonely elderly neighbor (Rene Auberjonis) and offer to buy some limestone blocks that have been sitting on his property for decades. The subtlety of the conversation embodies the missing respect and power of Ms. Williams' character.

Emotions are exploding beneath the surface in the third segment featuring horse handler Lily Gladstone as she stumbles into a class being taught by Kristen Stewart, and is immediately captivated by the smart young teacher. Where this attraction leads is further commentary on the challenges faced by those trying to escape the daily drudgery of their lives.

The above recaps don't come close to capturing the extraordinary quiet and stillness that director Reichardt uses in an emotionally powerful manner. These three women are all intelligent and filled with both pride and visceral disappointment … each quietly suffering, yet trudging forward with the emptiness each day brings. They each have a feeling of isolation – even if they aren't truly alone, and failed or lackluster relationships certainly play a role.

The acting and cinematography (film, not digital!) is as expert as the directing. Ms. Gladstone is truly a standout by saying few words out loud, but speaking volumes with her open and pleading eyes. The nuance of each scene is where the most interest is, and the overall mood of the characters and tone of the stories overcome the fact that we are plopped into these lives with little or no backstory. As each one softly crashes (two figuratively, one literally), we understand these are the faces of strong women who will continue to do what's necessary … even if that's shoveling horse poop. The film is dedicated to Ms. Reichardt's dog Lucy (a key to her personal and professional life).

Sometimes you need a movie like this just to feel normal...

[arabnikita · 7/10 · 26 October 2018]

This is not a movie with a big connection or a twist of some sorts. Personally I was watching it for Kristen Stewart and she appeared briefly in the movie. Nevertheless, I felt satisfied with this film. Nothing over the top, I had a free evening and decided to watch something relaxing without over the top production costs or visual quality. Just a story about simple people trying to live their everyday lives. Sometimes you need a movie like this just to feel normal...

There are limits...

[eyasta · 3/10 · 7 November 2016]

I appreciate a pretty wide variety of films. I wouldn't call myself an indie junkie, but I like creativity that gets me to think or be aware in a new way and indie can certainly do that. Of course, sometimes aspects of a film will evade me (what was X about? what did Y mean?) and then I seek out others--and IMDb--to fill in the gaps.

I have to admit, I left this film lost and unsatisfied. Too MUCH of it was a gap for me. Sure, I had some basic insights: how the normal-ness of life is worthy of attention and how the painful constancy of loneliness exists in so many lives. The acting was good. I found the long pans and the "un-action" movie action interesting. At least for a while. But by about halfway, that was it. Those insights just repeated themselves. I spent the second half hoping for something to shed light, to at least tie some loose ends together. But it never came.

And it wasn't just me and my friend. As we sat in the emptying theater after the movie, discussing our thoughts about it, an elderly lady shuffled out behind us and said, "I don't mean to blow my own horn, but I have a Ph.D. in English Literature. And STILL I can't figure out what that movie was about! Do you?" So it wasn't just me.

This is all I can conclude: This film slowly detailed 3 vignettes, suggesting there was something being told. Then it had nothing to say. Maybe it's a Zen thing. But it wasn't a satisfying experience for me. The stories came out of nowhere and went nowhere, albeit with some beautiful scenes and emotions presented along the way and excellent acting. When it was over, there was no "there" there for me. I think that's what left me feeling unsatisfied. It was like a pretty mosaic left in pieces. I can infer that someone formed a design with it and I want to see that design. But it's in pieces and, try as I might, I can't put the pieces together. In fact, it feels like some pieces are missing. So I walk away baffled.

Maybe this says more about me than this movie. Whatever the case, I walked away unsettled and not in an enlightened way. That didn't feel good.

The art of story telling about ordinary lives

[paul-allaer · 8/10 · 2 November 2016]

"Certain Women" (2016 release; 107 min.) brings several stories about ordinary women in a remote community in Montana. As the movie opens, we get to know Laura Wells, a lawyer who just had a quickie with her lover over lunch time ("I had a meeting", she says to her assistant upon getting back to the office). Waiting for Laura is a disgruntled client, who feels he's been cheated out of an injury settlement he feels he's entitled to. An exasperated Laura decides to take him to another lawyer for a second opinion. At this point we're 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from writer-director-editor Kelly Reichardt, the acclaimed indie movie director who previously brought us "Wendy & Lucy" and "Meek's Cutoff" (both starring Michelle Williams, who returns here as well). The movie brings three basically unrelated stories (based on Maile Meloy's collection "Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It"), and they all involve very ordinary people and ordinary lives that are shook up in one way or another (I'm biting my lips here, but won't spoil anything). The first story stars Laura Dern as the lawyer and Jared Harris as the disgruntled client; the second story stars Michelle Williams as the wife/mother in a strained marriage. The best, though, is saved for last, when we watch with fascination (and heartbreak) what unfolds between Kristen Stewart (as the Livingston, MT lawyer teaching a school law class in faraway Belfry, MT) and Lily Gladsone (as the lonesome horse rancher attending the class). I cannot recall seeing Kristen Stewart being more authentic in any previous role, even as compared to her roles in, say, "On the Road" or "The Runaways". Another major plus for the movie is that Reichardt lets a scene develop. Certain camera shots seemingly last forever. I don't mean to be snobby, but one of the reviews posted here gives this movie the lowest possible rating and compares it to 'watching paint dry'. I feel rather sorry for that person that he or she cannot appreciate a high quality movie like "Certain Women" (it is not a coincidence that this is rated 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes).

"Certain Women" premiered at the Sundance film festival earlier this year to great acclaim, and finally opened this past weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Tuesday evening screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely, and you could hear a pin drop during much of the movie, as the audience seemed glued to their seat and the big screen. If you are in the mood for a top-notch indie movie with several great character studies and correlating outstanding acting performances, you cannot go wrong with this. "Certain Women" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Dear Metacritic

[eminkl · 7/10 · 17 April 2020]

For foreign amateur reviewers on metacritic who complain that Hollywood never strays far from explosions and car chases, this is a reminder you can always find American art-school drama. It's a character study about women, obviously, three short stories that just barely and arbitrarily intersect. (Our favorite one about men is "Saint Jack" (1978) with Ben Gazzara in Singapore, which was shot in secret to avoid Singapore's nanny-state censors.) Some homegrown amateurs on metacritic complain that nothing "happened." Kids, write this down: there was a lot happening in emotional depth and light feminist themes in the backdrop of a vast, lonely, Montana vista that was a treat in itself. Not everything needs to follow a linear narrative with dramatic spikes or tropes. In any case, it's great to see Laura Dern in low gear after her manic performance in A-List TV ("Enlightened") as well as Jared Harris from "Mad Men."

Lugubrious plot and stillborn character arcs sink this Montana themed triptych

[Turfseer · 3/10 · 3 December 2016]

Kelly Reichardt wrote and directed this triptych of a screenplay set in Montana, based on a collection of short stories by Maile Meloy. Reichardt is known for slow-moving plots and prefers character studies to fill out her often lugubrious narratives. In each of the three segments that constitute Certain Women, Reichardt's protagonists are women who attempt to maintain a quiet dignity despite being stifled by people devoted to blocking their self-actualization.

In the first segment, Laura Dern plays attorney Laura Wells who is unable to shake off disgruntled client Fuller (Jared Harris), who seeks to re-open a civil suit but has been informed by both Laura and her attorney colleague that he has no legal leg left to stand on. When Fuller takes a security guard hostage at his former place of employment, Laura is called in by the local police to act (in the unlikely scenario) as hostage negotiator. When Fuller lets the security guard go and asks Laura to give him a head start as he scurries out of the back of the building, Laura immediately informs the police of Fuller's whereabouts, and he's placed under arrest.

In the second and least successful of the segments, Michelle Williams plays Gina who is married to Ryan (James Le Gros). Gina is constantly annoyed with her husband who appears to indulge their rebellious teenage daughter. Gina has placed herself in charge of building a new family home out in a rural area—all she has to do is convince Albert, an elderly family acquaintance, to part with the sandstone on his property which she would like to use in the construction of the new home. Albert tentatively agrees to selling the sandstone and soon afterward, Gina's workers come to take possession of it. But when Gina waves to him as her stares out the window from his home, he doesn't react. Did Gina intimidate him into doing something he didn't really want to do? This is perhaps the only real ambiguity in Reichardt's "what you see is what you get" narrative.

The third segment features Jamie (Lily Gladstone), a young Native American ranch hand, who stumbles upon a continuing education class on educational law taught by attorney Beth Travis (Kristen Stewart). Beth amazingly travels four hours each way to teach the class and Jamie ends up taking an immediate liking towards the moonlighting attorney. Soon afterward they go out to eat a couple of times at a greasy spoon but eventually Beth fails to show up at the class, much to Jamie's chagrin. Jamie discovers that Beth stopped teaching because she could no longer tolerate the travel time.

Jamie decides to make the four hour drive to see if she can find Beth. When she finally tracks Beth down, they have a brief conversation but nothing comes of it. Lonely Jamie makes the trek back to the farm. End of segment.

Certain Women is very loosely interconnected by a few plot strands. Laura has been having an affair with Gina's husband, and Beth happens to be employed in the same building where Laura works.

If you can't stand lugubrious plots, Certain Women is an immediate "no-go." In terms of character development (the area where Reichardt is supposed to shine), that part of the narrative is also exceptionally weak. None of the three protagonists has much of a discernible internal arc, except maintaining the aforementioned "quiet dignity." One wonders what to think of Laura and Gina—their egos are intact and they seem to accomplish their goals—despite the obstacles put in their way (in Laura's case, it's resolving her "bad client" problem; with Gina it's consummating the sale of the sandstone and moving ahead in spite of her husband and daughter's "bad attitude"). Yet nothing much happens except for the quiet satisfaction of weathering a few not very dramatic opponents.

The case of Jamie is a bit different. She's the only protagonist who doesn't get what she wants, and is perhaps the only "sad sack" of the three. Sad sacks unfortunately don't make for good drama so when Jamie arrives back home, we're forced to revel in her failure.

If you must see Certain Women, see it for the plush Montana landscapes and the capable acting on the part of the principals. Unfortunately, good parts for women in the cinema today remain hard to come by. Certain Women certainly fails to contribute to such a pantheon.

Masterful Storytelling, with Emotion Revealed by Actions

[vsks · 8/10 · 3 November 2016]

You know from the movie previews and the rumblings from the multiplex's adjacent theater that today's movies are heavily weighted toward "action films." Writer-director-editor Kelly Reichardt could singlehandedly reverse that trend with Certain Women, which can most succinctly be described as an "inaction film." It's kind of hard to get used to Reichardt's pace, so you might watch this and think "Wha---?" Here, the drama is at the deep inside the characters, hidden from all views except the closest. And that's what it gets from Reichardt—"a poet of silences and open spaces," says A.O. Scott in the New York Times. Based on short stories by Maile Meloy, the film is set in and around Livingston, Montana, and the views of the lonely snowswept plains are breathtaking. The story is presented in three separate vignettes that barely intersect. In the first, Laura Dern plays Laura Wells, a lawyer trying to convince her persistent client (Jared Harris) that he can't sue his former employer for on-the-job injuries because he already accepted a settlement. The client doesn't believe it until a male lawyer tells him the same thing. She's disappointed at many levels—with her clients, her career, her love life. The middle vignette involves Gina (Michelle Williams), a married woman with a disaffected teenage daughter. She and her husband are building a new house, and she hopes to convince a slightly addled, elderly neighbor (Rene Auberjonois) to sell them a pile of unused sandstone blocks in his front yard. Behind Gina's bright smile, you can feel her irritation that the neighbor focuses his attention not on her request but on her husband, eliding the decision, and finally the husband sells her out. Even within the bosom of her family, it's clear, she's alone. The dreamiest and most poignant sequence follows the young woman Jamie—beautifully underplayed by Lily Gladstone—on her daily routine, feeding and caring for a group of horses on a remote ranch. The repetitiveness of her tasks in the snowy, mountains in the distance, is mesmerizing. Her routine and her equilibrium are disturbed by a chance acquaintance with Beth, a harried young lawyer played by Kristen Stewart, overwhelmed by her own, very different grind. The extent of Jamie's disturbance is painfully revealed in her quiet face, upon which "silent passion surges like an underground stream," Scott says. The acting is subtle and true, and Reichardt closely follows the dictum, "show, don't tell." Her characters don't scream and rail and tell you what their issues are. You see it laid bare in front of you.

non-dramatic views on Montana

[westfield-john · 7/10 · 14 October 2016]

Beside its experimental story-line, this movie offers mostly standard cinema, which isn't bad itself. It is just, well you need a comfortable couch, and some hot drink by your choice, am maybe a warm and cozy buddy like your dog, cat or someone by your choice beside you. Then this movie reveals its most value. It is about humans, people, circumstances, minds and thoughts, love and friendship, emotions, and more. It is hard to argue this movie had a distinct and clear story-line, as the story itself, as it evolves, has not a clear pattern. Maybe just this is intentional, in order not to distract from the vivid actors, which were really a good choice. The most positive aspect is perhaps that different viewers are able to have different impressions, so its subtle, not plain. On the negative I would mind the minor emotional commitment I felt sometimes, a little bit too shallow, not really involved, but it was definitely never overdrawn. 07/10

2 hours you can't get back.

[superoldies · 1/10 · 25 November 2016]

When I saw high reviews for this, my wife & I settled in to be entertained. So we waited, and waited...being from a small town I thought perhaps I could relate. Not many people will "get this" movie. Follow 3 small town people around for a day or two. Exciting? Not at all. Something's gotta happen soon!.....end credits. Pretty much every day life for some of us, nothing exciting, as much drama as watching the neighbor let the dog out...and sometimes that's more interesting than this film was.

Apparently this is one of the director's best works. I'll dust off the cobwebs, and skip those other movies as this was a complete aimless bore. Just one opinion from a speechless movie fan that was waiting to be entertained and would have had more fun watching paint dry. The only people that will find this compelling & entertaining (you have to be pretty damn desperate) is someone who has never lived in a small town, or the Mid-West, and then you probably won't understand it. To think money was spent producing such an empty plate, is beyond me.

Entrancing and atmospheric in unexpected ways

[Red_Identity · 14 October 2016]

Kelly Reichardt surely makes films like no one else right now, and without really trying too hard to be different, edgy, or unique. Her vision and voice just come across powerfully in her films, in their sensibilities and in their unspoken moments of quiet, harmony, and sensitivity. Although I wasn't really a fan of Night Moves, I was of Wendy and Lucy and of Meek's Cutoff. I believe this may be her best film yet. All three female leads (four if you want to count Stewart) do a really fine job. Particularly Lily Gladstone, who is a real force to be reckoned with and who I hope to see in the future again. This is a quiet and tender film, powerful for what it doesn't explicitly say rather than for what it does.

Certain Women - 3rd vignette great - other 2 so - so

[annotate-1 · 7/10 · 6 November 2016]

Loved the 3rd story. The first was OK. The first puzzled me, though. Why was she visiting the guy in prison? Was she so lonely she hoped maybe to get something happening with him? She wouldn't write him but she's bringing him a shake? Is she that hard up for clients? Is she hoping for a big settlement? She's already told him he doesn't have a chance with his lawsuit. It's very ambiguous to me.

The second vignette was not that good. Unhappy people (somewhat). The closing shot explained it all to me. Michelle Williams looking at the concrete as something she wanted and attained. Material things were more important to her than feelings (from her husband and daughter).

quiet little gem of a movie

[httpmom · 9/10 · 30 January 2019]

A carefully crafted and subtle indie film about three separate women living in rural Montana faced with loneliness and dissatisfaction in their lives. Two with men who who will never appreciate them. All three women of tremendous strength who find a way to keep on trudging through a brutal existence. Reinforced by the stark background of a cold Montana winter. Superb acting. Quiet brilliance from the director.

Looks good, less filling

[skinnybert · 6/10 · 19 January 2021]

It's great to look at -- so look at it; for visual presentation, it's among the best. Lovely. Unforgettable, really.

For the story -- well, movies don't have to tell stories, and this one largely doesn't. Oh, there are pieces of stories: moments finely interwoven. Then another scene starts and -- well, it just starts, is all. Never mind the last character, we're on to something else.

I understood beforehand that these were three stories made into a movie, so I was prepared for that challenge. But this film seems a little foggy on what it wants to say, and the effort made to tie the stories together doesn't actually help. When we see that the lover from the first story is the husband in the second story (believe me, telling you this is no spoiler; it's simply face recognition), this adds nothing but distraction -- because marital fidelity isn't even brushed on. The end conclusion is only that the saved an actor salary by having one actor play two unrelated (but prominent) roles.

As I said, movies don't have to tell stories. But if you give us a long long take of an actor driving (to pick one example), something should happen after 60 seconds that didn't happen in the first 30. If we see their car go off the road, there should be either a reason or some consequence. This movie isn't interested in those details. Which isn't unique to Reichardt. I'm reminded a bit of Ozu's films, which often opened with a train, and skipped events that drive other filmmaker's stories (e.g., the climactic wedding in Floating Weeds is completely off-camera, as if cut out for time).

In the Criterion interview, Reichardt objects to the perception of this being a "women's movie" ... then doesn't explain how it is not. It's not because it focuses on women; Steel Magnolias did that too. It's because it focuses quite sharply on women suffering in women-specific ways, and shows no understanding of the few men involved. Which some might consider fair balance for the men-dominated film industry, and the many, many movies which don't understand women. If that's balance, then we may expect many many more movies like this: incapable of understanding men, detailed about dysfunctional suffering, devoid of solutions -- but sympathetic to the women who choose those men, plow on despite their own suffering, and ache for something else they don't know how to find. If that isn't a "women's film" -- what is?

Not entertaining - maybe I missed something

[osbozac · 3/10 · 29 October 2016]

This movie has great actors and was playing at Amerst Cinema which usually shows only very good films, many independent. However, I feel compelled to say this is not a movie worth paying to see in the theater. It watches like a hastily finished school film project. It had no real storyline, just slice of life stuff that wasn't really too interesting. Maybe I'm not as sophisticated as some film people but I'd guess at least 9 out of 10 people who watch this film won't enjoy it at all and those few that claim they did will do so only because they think it makes some sort of deep point but, if given truth serum no one would or could actually claim to have been entertained. As an aside, it also makes the wonderful state of Montanna seem like a terrible place, which it's not! Anyway, wait for Netflix because this is not worth paying your hard earned money to see - trust me!

Quiet, Spare, Real

[tpatchen-77031 · 8/10 · 15 October 2018]

I guess you either love it or hate it... I liked it very much. I especially loved the third story of the lonely rancher, Jamie (played beautifully by Lily Gladstone), who takes a chance to connect with someone she meets by chance. The glorious and lonely Montana landscape is the perfect backdrop for this film. I will remember it.

Interesting

[afortiorama · 7/10 · 11 March 2017]

I have to admit I haven't seen an indie movie for a while. It was an interesting movie, though not one that deserves 5/5 as some reviews I've seen stated. The reviews focus on "independent" women is misplaced. More than independent they are disconnected. The stories are almost stills on how disconnected they are. The first is a lawyer who cannot connect with her client tragedy; the second is a woman who wants to build a house but cannot connect neither with her husband and daughter nor with her neighbour (she cannot even connect with the stones in her neighbour garden which she covets for her house); the third story is about a law teacher who cannot connect with one of her students, a young woman living an isolated life taking care of the horses on the family ranch with her dog. The latter would be perhaps the most connected of all if she didn't live in the middle of nowhere.

For now 7/10.

Luxury of uselessness

[qeter · 2/10 · 2 November 2016]

Seen at the Viennale 2016: Definitely a wasted luxury to work with so talented actresses just to finish with a meditative piece of filmed daily routine in US hometowns. Why did Kelly Reichardt not go the whole way to get authentic realistic footage? And simple shoot pictures of some real people in an US hometown? A documentary with real people would produce even a more honest picture of daily routine. There was really no need to take the lifetime of top-notch actresses for this. Apart from that I must admit, Kristen Stewart is a really treat to watch on the big screen. I wonder, why do some people have such an extraordinary aura?...

Kelly Reichardt has created yet another nuanced and heart-wrenching masterpiece

[freekyfridays · 10/10 · 15 March 2016]

Kelly Reichardt has created yet another nuanced and heart-wrenching masterpiece, this time based on Montana writer Maile Meloy's short stories. Weaving together four reserved women's lives in Livingston, Montana may not sound like the kind of film that could climb its way into your innermost guts and set up a campfire; But that is exactly what this revelatory film did for me.

Reichardt's all-star cast members give some of their greatest recent performances, led by Laura Dern as a lovelorn lawyer, Michelle Williams as a persistent progressive parent, and Kristen Stewart as an obliviously motivated 20-something. But it's astounding newcomer Lily Gladstone who humbly steals the show, as a hard-working rancher. I must say that watching someone riding a horse has truly never been such a romantic experience in all my cinematic life. Like all of Kelly Reichardt's previous treasures — OLD JOY (2006), WENDY & LUCY (2008), MEEK'S CUTOFF (2010), NiGHT MOVES (2013) — her understanding of classic American cinema is boundless, allowing her to re-envision those stories and images, breathing her very particular brand of stoic yearning into each and every gesture.

Review is from my 2016 Sundance Film Festival wrap up at www.48hills.org

No dream is altogether a dream.

[ulf-635-523367 · 7/10 · 12 May 2017]

Kelly Reichardt continues assiduous to give us images and pictures from the old country. In the near future she will have her own festival of films of a lesser following. This is a film that does not take into account its market or industry, nor does it have a plan for how and where it will reach its potential audience. Thats rare and well-worth to appreciate. Kelly Reichardt has a knack for picking the right people to put in front of the camera and embed in these environments. She also has a strong sense for the importance of the underlying importance of the words and gestures. Quite unusual in movies from the USA. "Certain Women" opens with a scene inspired by the "Psycho". And goes on to offer more interesting film references. With that pleasant concise low energy. A sight for sore eyes. No dream is altogether a dream.

A tedious and pointless film, quite literally, about NOTHING....

[cfourie6 · 1/10 · 3 April 2017]

I was massively relieved when this film finally ended, after having endured the director's apparent reluctance to edit out any parts of long pointless film sequences of snow melting (or not melting), horses being fed, people saying little or nothing at all and then having no real end to speak of. If this was intended to be a film about three very uninteresting women with boring lives then it succeeds. To be avoided.....