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‘Certain Women’ review [LFF 2016]

London Film Festival 2016

Certain Women review: Kelly Reichardt delivers her latest – a triple chapter feature focussing on three women in three slightly connected stories.

Certain Women review by Paul Heath, LFF 2016.

Certain Women review

Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy) delivers her latest Certain Women, based on the short stories by Maile Meloy, a three-part feature starring Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Kristen Stewart.

Reichardt’s lingering drama starts off by focussing on Dern’s small-town lawyer having a lunchtime bit of fun with attached man who then has to deal with a hostage situation concerning one of her clients (Jared Harris). Then there’s Michelle Williams’ construction company owner apparently living in a tent while her husband builds their dream house. Then there’s the third chapter, led by Kristin Stewart’s law student who has signed up to teach a twice-weekly class in a town four hours drive away. There she meets lonely ranch hand Lily Gladstone – a character who craves the attention and yearns the young career-woman.

Certain Women review

The three chapters are connected in very loose, non-eventful ways – in fact, the film is completely none-eventful – essentially a character study notably around Dern, Williams and Gladstone. Reichardt takes her time in telling each one’s stories, its plodding nature both bum-shifting and generally tiresome. Sure, the film looks fantastic – cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt (The Bling Ring, Indignation) capturing the sweeping vistas of Montana beautifully. The acting is of the highest quality – would we expect anything less – particularly from Reichardt regular Michelle Williams, but it is Kristin Stewart who is the stand-out in the film’s final, and perhaps most engaging chapter.

Certain Women review

I’m sure that the film will find an audience and fans of the filmmaker’s previous work will no-doubt lap it all up. Certain Women is one of those films where you can appreciate the creative prowess but as a whole fails to grab or maintain interest and the lack of consequence to each story left me rather unfulfilled. Which is a shame.

Certain Women review by Paul Heath, October 2016.

Certain Women screens at the 2016 London Film Festival.

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