CERTAIN WOMEN – Rated R

CERTAIN WOMEN – Rated R – 1 hr 47 min

Starring Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, Jared Harris and Lilly Gladstone

Based on the short story compilation of Maile Meloy by the same name, Writer and Director Kelly Reichardt brings us deep into the lives of three “ordinary” women and how their lives find a way to intersect…this is CERTAIN WOMEN.

Lost in the turmoil of a confusing affair with the married Ryan Lewis (James Le Gros), we meet Laura Wells (Laura Dern, who is caught in the trenches of denial from her client Fuller (Jared Harris), as he can’t quite come to terms with the fact that his case is pretty well going no where…

Flash forward as we meet the stoic and cold Gina Lewis (Michelle Williams), trying to control her loved ones lives, while making sure that she gets exactly what she wants, no matter what the cost to anyone around her…

Alas, we journey yet into another women’s mixed up life, when we meet Jamie (Lilly Gladstone), who’s keeping up a horse ranch on the outskirts of town, and who accidently finds herself drawn into a class being instructed by young lawyer Beth Davis (Kristen Stewart)…

As these three women try to find the strength to sort out their very complex, yet mundane lives, and the peculiar circumstances that entwine each of their paths, will any of them find peace and happiness, or just a shallow existence??

I give CERTAIN WOMEN a rating of: Wait and catch this film on NETLIX or STREAMING ~ I was intrigued to view Reichardt’s work with this film, as a movie about women, directed by a woman, always peaks my interest. But sadly, even though the performances throughout this film were acceptable across the board, the subject matter or lack there of in each of these woman’s lives, left me with more questions than answers when it was all said and done. Don’t get me wrong, I totally enjoy films that make me think, and attempt to spark my curiosity to FILL IN THE BLANKS along the way, but CERTAIN WOMEN takes those concepts to a whole new level. I left the theater feeling as if I hadn’t viewed the entire film, as too much of these separate, yet entwined storylines, for me, was left unsaid. And I also wasn’t very fond of its abrupt ending either…leaving me to suggest that you wait to catch CERTAIN WOMEN in a few months on your laptop or TV screen.

Kathy Kaiser