Dear Wendy
In a blue-collar American town, a group of teens bands together to form the Dandies, a gang of gunslingers led by Dick Dandelion. Following a code of strict pacifism at odds with the fact that they all carry guns, the group eventually lets in Sebastian, the grandson of Dick's childhood nanny, Clarabelle, who fears the other gangs in the area. Dick and company try to protect Clarabelle, but events transpire that push the gang past posturing.
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- Cast:
- Jamie Bell , Bill Pullman , Michael Angarano , Novella Nelson , Chris Owen , Alison Pill , Mark Webber
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Reviews
Best movie of this year hands down!
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
"Dear Wendy" is a boring, unpleasant movie which is not nearly strange enough to be interesting. It doesn't have a believable moment or character in it. It's like a long elaborate joke with no punchline.The movie is about a group of kids who live in a town which I guess is supposed to be "Anytown, USA" but which I doubt is like any town, any where. It seems to consist of one street with an abandoned mine shaft at the end.The kids form a group called the dandies which is obsessed with guns. They obsessively study videos of gunshot wounds and practice target shooting down in the mine. But, get this: they're pacifists.A black kid joins their group though he does not obey their rules and there is a violent confrontation at the end.In films, the odd unexpected development helps maintain interest. In a movie in which none of the characters motivations make sense, none of their behaviour is explained or explicable, these developments are merely irritating. Watch "Dear Wendy" for examples.
Working in English writer Lars von Trier and director Thomas Vinterberg tackle American gun culture in a highly original and deeply disturbing fashion; it's the kind of satire I can't imagine an American film-maker making. It's about a group of young misfits in an American mining town who form a 'pacifist' gun club. The purpose? To love their guns, (Wendy is a pistol), but hate killing. When they allow a young gun-loving criminal into the group you might think things are going to go badly and they do, but not quite in the way you might expect.Young British actor Jamie Bell is excellent as the boy who founds the club and Danso Gordon is outstanding as the young criminal who, at first, challenges his authority but who turns out to be perhaps the most sensible member of this strange gang. Indeed, all the performances are excellent as is Anthony Dod Mantle's cinematography. The film itself came and went with almost no-one seeing it. Do yourself a favor and look this one up.
There is something very fundamental that shouldn't go wrong in a film, and that is the so-called "suspension of disbelief". When you sit watching a film and can't keep yourself from thinking that it's all just a film with actors saying their lines on a film set, then it's obviously gone wrong. And that's the very thing that happens to "Dear Wendy". It's a cleverly thought-out, well conceived plan, but it doesn't come to life. The characters feel two-dimensional all the way through, I didn't care for any of them, so I just kept watching from the outside, which felt a bit like looking at fish in an aquarium. Furthermore, the story is painfully predictable - once people take a gun in their hands, it's always an easy guess to tell what will happen in the end, and so it does. Cinematography and everything is good as usual, but cinematography and everything never made a boring film good. "Festen" was such a great, deep, human film - where did the guy go who made it?
"Dear Wendy" is about a group of young losers, who develop strength and backbone from carrying and firing guns. However their proclaimed pacifistic approach to gun control isn't shared with the rest of the small mining community From the beginning the movie's message is quite clear. Written by USA critic Lars Von Trier, the movie conveys a negative opinion of American gun laws. Regrettably this message precedes the credibility of the movie's plot and characters. No matter how hard the actors struggle, they remain mere stage props.None of the actors are major stars. Best known is probably Bill Pullman who some will remember from "Independence Day" and "Lost Highway". However all roles are cast fittingly and the performances are satisfactory.Another point of criticism is the constant voice-over that explains everything you're watching. The voice-over is reasonably justified; still the best scenes in the movie are the few that are allowed to stand on their own.The splendid pale pictures are done by Anthony Dod Mantle, who worked on both Thomas Vinterberg and Lars Von Trier's latest movies ("It's All About Love" and "Dogville"). Sadly this excellent cinematography is the best part of the movie."Dear Wendy" touches an interesting and relevant topic. Still that doesn't make the movie an artistic success. It's more like pretty propaganda.