Certain Women

Indie filmmaker Kelly Reichardt's film adaptation of short stories by Maile Meloy serves up a cinematic portrait of disparate women living in desolate Livingston, MT. Laura Wells (Laura Dern) is a lawyer whose angry construction worker client Fuller (Jared Harris) refuses to accept the fact that because he has already accepted a settlement for a workplace injury, he therefore cannot be further compensated. “If I were a man, I could explain the law and people would listen,” she complains. Gina Lewis (Michelle Williams) is an alienated wife, mother, and business owner trying to convince an elderly neighbor (René Auberjonois) to sell her some “authentic” local sandstone so that she can use the rocks for the home she's building with her philandering husband Ryan (James LeGros) and their sullen teenage daughter, Guthrie (Sara Rodier). And Native American Jamie (Lily Gladstone) is a shy, lonely horse rancher who becomes infatuated with disillusioned Elizabeth Travis (Kristen Stewart), a recent law school graduate who commutes to teach a night class in educational law twice a week at a rural school. Jamie looks forward to their chats at a nearby diner after class. Writer-director Reichardt is much less concerned with plot than the inner turmoil of her quietly suffering characters, working closely with cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt and eliciting excellent performances from her ensemble. Unfortunately, the pacing of her mini-dramas is slow and uneven. Still, this meditative and often soulful film should be considered a strong optional purchase. (S. Granger)