Showing Up

Michelle Williams and Kelly Reichardt

Kelly Reichardt's Showing Up is a low key drama depicting a few weeks in the life of a Portland based sculptor named Liz played by Michelle Williams; her fourth film with the director. Liz supports herself by working at an art school run by her mother (Maryann Plunkett), so she hasn't completely left the nest. Her parents are divorced, not amicably, and her brother (played wonderfully by John Magaro) teeters on the edge of madness. These factors, along with the deadline for an upcoming show, weigh upon Liz and Williams offers a performance in full grumpy cat mode. 

The stresses that gnaw upon Liz affect her relationship with her landlord and fellow artist, Jo (Hong Chau). Jo seems to be thriving as an artist, in relation to Liz, and this plus a broken hot water heater sets their relationship on edge. The portrait of this relationship, which is in constant flux, is the signal achievement of this film. Reichardt understands the ebb and flow of a friendship which ranges from the kinship of sisterhood to fractious discord.

Not everything in Showing Up is as effective. A subplot concerning an injured pigeon seems unnecessarily symbolic for a neorealistic drama; the necessity of leaving the nest notwithstanding Still, this resident of the Portland metro area must admit that no other filmmaker of this era has captured the bohemian bubble of Portlandia as evocatively as Reichardt does. The art school scenes are set at the defunct Oregon College of Arts and Crafts and capture the counterculture vibe of what may be a bygone day. Reichardt is a studiously modest filmmaker, who I have criticized in the past for her lack of Dionysian abandon, but, in this age of CGI laden extravaganzas of gaseous proportions, her virtues are much appreciated. Certainly, her films always boast impressive supporting players: in this case they include Judd Hirsch, Andre Benjamin, Amanda Plummer, Matt Malloy, James Le Gros, Heather Lawless, Lauren Lakis, and Theo Taplitz.