Showing Up

Showing Up is a beautifully observed film about the artistic process and the times when life is entangled within it. It's a quiet film that shifts slowly but one that stays inside you. Director Kelly Reichardt is known for making minimalist films, sometimes described as 'slow cinema'. They chronicle everyday life with great care. This film is no different. Lizzy is a sculptor living in Oregon. She is trying to get her work finished for an upcoming show. She also works at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. Her neighbour and rival artist Jo is also her landlord and through the film she spars over the lack of hot water. Lizzy also has to deal with her wayward father and also her reclusive and delusional brother Sean. Through this she is stressed out about completing her work for the show. The only major drama in the film is an injured pigeon that is maimed by Lizzy's cat. Through the film the pigeon is passed in care from Lizzy to Jo. This superb film slowly shows the beauty of the artistic process, whilst ably showing that life and its tribulations can often get in the way. Michelle Williams is wonderful as Lizzy. This is the fourth film she has acted in directed by Reichardt. Hong Chau and John Magaro are also great in their roles. Reichardt's films can sometimes struggle with audiences. They are never splashy or loud. Rather they are quiet and reflective. For that I am always grateful.

It shows people living a life where they do not succumb to consumerism and mindless commercialism, where they take the time to think about the things they are doing, even if it doesn't shake the world. Which is the way most people live, thinking what they are doing and saying is important, when maybe it really isn't. Me too, and probably you. In this case, it is the world of local artists in a medium sized city with extremely small followings and very limited impact in a hyper sensationalized capitalist society. The characters don't buy into all of that and do what they feel compelled to do and enjoy because it suits them regardless of popularity. The art they make is not very exciting, but to them it is, or creating it is. I laughed several times, but the humor is not broad or blunt. Subtleties abound. The story is more geared to fans of short fiction, and it often plays out like reading a good book. In that sense, which is interesting for a film, there is a great story here. If you like following the latest trends and thought the Barbie movie was the best film of 2023 you are not going to like this movie. If you like spectacle and can't read more than a paragraph of text without being bored, this isn't for you either. But there is more to life than slight variations on what has been done a million times before. In my case I enjoyed how the film blurred the lines for me between reading a good story and watching a good film. A highly enjoyable film for a small, thoughtful segment of film-goers who don't mind being left out of the prevailing tide and can look at life and art without too many inherited or preconceived notions.

This milquetoast style of basing a film around normal people doing normal things is nothing new, it's been awhile since I've seen one though this really isn't about people and more about the tale of a pigeon that breaks it's wing, heals, and flies away. That said, I couldn't help but keep watching.

This is quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen. Depression and pointlessness in an hour and a half movie. And I like Michelle Williams. Awful movie on every level.

Really like this idea that it would be a mistake to totally abandon your empathy and commitments for the sake of your art. Also it's fascinating that on top of being the only good person, Williams is also the only good artist in the movie.

I have to admit it was disappointing. I understand the aim of the director in trying to portray a dull life reflected by the mediocrity and pretentiousness of the current self-referential art world but the message could have been carried out without torturing the audience. Extremely slow.

Before I sat through this I trusted that an A24 movie was going to be good. If you choose to watch it you will see unhappy, unlikable, and mentally ill child-like people being miserable, annoying, agitated, and void of a single ounce of wisdom. You will spend 107 minutes watching them sleepwalk through their joyless existence. Good times.

Let's get this one over with. Look, I'm not saying that the film is boring it just didn't appeal to me. I was definitely the wrong audience for this, but as a film looking in a critical perspective it's okay. Michelle Williams reunites with director Kelly Reichardt for a 4th time about the day in the life of a sculptor. It went from helping a pigeon to... working... pigeon... working... pigeon flying out of the building... working, you get what I mean! In a way the film is accurately depicting a job, but that's not the problem and that comes with the characters. I just can't relate to them and they are so passive aggressive and narcissistic that it's really hard to make me bond with these self indulgent characters. But, really, that's what the film was trying to do and it succeeds in that category. But overall I just can't recommend this a24 film unless you like reverting back to a presumably familiar work environment for your next watch. Grade: C

A zoomed in and surprisingly realistic take on the day to day life of an artist and the characters they will inevitably encounter in their circles. "Showing Up" reflects quietly and rather uneventfully on the time, effort, energy, attention, and interpersonal evolution it takes just to make space for your craft when that craft does not (yet) pay the bills. For those who have lived this experience, the reality it reflects may be met with sighs or laughter of recognition and/or extreme frustration and discomfort depending on your relationship to your craft at the time. If you aren't in tune with this lifestyle the film might feel boring and perhaps even pointless. The picture turns out exactly as the in-between moments it focuses on- mundane and unremarkable in a certain sense but insightful and thrilling as an unadulterated emotionally grounded look at the subtly that molds our existence. Like it's title implies this is your type of cinema if mindful recognition of what life is really like is enough to feel like a worthwhile use of your attention.

I kept waiting (and waiting, and waiting ...) for it to get better. The end.