You won’t recognize Michelle Williams in her 4th collaboration with Director Kelly Reichardt. Williams plays dowdy sculptor, Lizzie, who hardly speaks, frantically trying to get ready for an exhibition of her work. She is one of many artists in an enclave in Portland, Oregon. She and her landlord/friend, Jo, (Hong Chau) are both preparing to display their work at separate shows there. Lizzie’s first problem is getting a hot shower. Jo has been promising to fix the water heater in their building for weeks.
We get to know Lizzie (Williams) ever so slowly as a sculptor who creates beautiful clay female figurines posed in motion. Not perfect, they each have limbs missing, or something out of place, but they are captivating and very human. Credit to real sculptor, Cynthia Lahti for creating Liz’s artwork in this film. But Williams was inspired to work with artists to prepare learning how to sculpt and appreciate the process.
Williams portrayal of Lizzie is sometimes a little exasperating. She is dressed in loose clothing, a long skirt with a sweater top, both bland in color, and wearing socks with crocs always walking slowly straight ahead with no expression on her face. Her voice is bland, too, with few words spoken slowly between pregnant pauses.
Even though her landlord, Jo, hasn’t fixed the hot water Lizzie just keeps asking for her to do something without raising her voice until right before her show. Lizzie has to literally go elsewhere, begging to take a shower. She works silently in a garage attached to her apartment, with her feisty cat for company.
Lizzie’s parents, separated, are a trip. Her mother, (Maryann Plunkett) heads up the art organization where Lizzie works. Her father, (Judd Hirsch) is another artist, retired, who chases younger women. He’s a loud wacko with no filter talking to his children. Lizzie’s brother, Sean (Joseph Mangaro) is on the verge, if not in the middle, of a mental breakdown. This is one dysfunctional family who doesn’t know how to support Lizzie’s talent.
The most personable character in the film is an injured pigeon after Jo finds it and leaves it in Lizzie’s care.The first inkling of emotion we see from Lizzie is when she starts to care about the bird. And, as a result, after seeing Lizzie barely interact with her family and fellow artists, we see more emotion and humanity come out of this under appreciated young artist. Chao and Williams become more friendly toward each other as they take care of the bird. Reichart doesn’t do rehearsals, but explained that Williams and Chao spent time together taking care of their infants in the same trailer between scenes which seemed to help them bond.
This film is a slow go. We appreciate how unusual it is to see Williams in this subtle role, as opposed to the more sexy, My Week with Marilyn and the flashy Fosse/Verdon TV series. You really have to be patient, not only in terms of pacing, but with the character development to understand the story arc with its deliberate and low key reveals. You have to be willing to wait for Reichardt and Williams’ calm collaboration that unwrap a total picture of the characters. Williams is hiding behind a sedate persona yet Showing Up, once again, projecting her versatility.
A24. 1 hour 48 minutes. R
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