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Kelly Reichardt is one of those director/writers who has made it their focus to film, the unfilmable, ordinary people in their downtime simply reacting or not reacting to things. This is all well and good, and each piece of Certain Women works beautifully on their own, but as a collection pulled together it feels random and unfocused and not in a good way.

The three stories of Certain Women are all set in and around the same small town in Montana and are also loosely connected (a few side characters show up in different segments which are more of a distraction than a convincing narrative thread). The women of the three stories are Laura (Laura Dern) a personal injury lawyer dealing with a disabled and embittered client who won't accept that he signed away his rights, Gina (Reichardt's muse Michelle Williams, working with her fort the third time) an uptight woman trying to get the material needed for her dream home, and Jamie (newcomer Lily Gladstone, amazing), a lonely rancher who unexpectedly falls for a lawyer she meets in the strangest of circumstances. The stories are all very undramatic and subtle but in Reichardt's hands the material absolutely sings. There is a lot of depth and nuance to these characters and it is wonderful to watch them. Unfortunately she does not afford equal time to all the characters and this has the effect of making her film feel lopsided.

The best segment in the film is the one with Gladstone's rancher, and I sincerely wish that Reichardt had worked out a way to pad it out with 40 more minutes of material because at 50 minutes it is the longest segment by far and it is the most interesting and the most poignant.

It doesn't seem as though indie darling Kelly Reichardt will be changing her directing tact anytime soon.

Becoming well known for her intimate, slow-moving and character driven character studies (that more often than not star Michelle Williams), Reichardt's film aren't for everyone but there is often a quiet power to Reichardt's stories that can't be denied.

Hitting a peak with lost dog drama Wendy and Lucy and losing her way with the sleep inducing female driven western Meek's Cutoff, Certain Women is middle of the road Reichardt that see's the Florida born filmmaker examine the lives of 3 separate women in the American state of Montana, each going through their own various journey's in this great big world.

There's barely an ounce of character development or backstory as we're thrust into these women's everyday lives, from Laura Dern's lawyer Laura dealings with Jared Harris's potentially dangerous client Fuller, Michelle William's hardworking mother and wife Gina and Lily Gladstone's The Rancher's strange fondness for Kristin Stewart's class instructor Elizabeth and while these women's stories are intriguing to a sense, there's never a good enough set-up or reward to truly make this intertwining story truly memorable.

As per usual with a Reichardt film, Certain Women looks great in a quietly poetic way and the acting is universally good, without ever delivering any big character moments or situations for Reichardt's cast to shine at their brightest levels but it's hard to fully invest yourself into a film that feels rather emotionally cold and a problem that sometimes manifests itself in such narrative structures, some of Certain Women's most interesting plot points seem to end as we're thrust back into another characters life, making us feel as though we're being a little ripped off by a story that had more to give us.

Final Say –

Reichardt's ponderous and deliberately paced drama will be a treat for her small yet passionate fan base while for the rest of us, Certain Women is a well-intentioned and finely acted drama that never hooks us into its world in a way that would've made it more readily accessible and easily recommendable.

2 ½ short-legged farm dogs out of 5

Director Kelly Reicart knows strong women and the strong circumstances they've faced moving West (Meek's Cutoff) and more than 100 years later the modern Northwest (Certain Women). Big Sky Country, Montana, is the modern setting: Billings, Bozeman, and environs, the places where three women are ignored by men, misunderstood by both men and women, and call many of the shots that may end up putting food on their tables and courage in their hearts.

Although feminists should be proud of the three heroines in Certain Women, their actions are not so much the stuff of heroics as they mostly navigate around misogyny and sloth in a world that mostly listens to men first even if the women are right most of the time.

Laura Wells (Laura Dern) is an attorney with not really a thriving practice, but she gets along. One client, Fuller (Jared Harris), is a worker trying in vain to get more compensation for an accident while he slowly becomes derailed. In the most fraught incident of the trilogy, she must enter a building with a bullet-proof vest to face him as he holds a guard hostage. That she is the one to confront him, and not a crisis squad, is one of the stories' touches that clarifies why the heroines are "certain" women.

Gina Lewis (Michelle Williams) is building a prairie house, part of which will be built with a pile of stones, she, not her husband, tries to convince an old man to sell. Her quiet resolve in the face of mostly feckless men is not so much heroic as it is her certainty that she must be the strong one.

Jamie (Lily Gladstone), a portly ranch hand who falls for an evening school teacher-lawyer, Beth Travis (Kristen Stewart), is the least glamorous of the three (no I Phone for this cowgirl) but with an inner depth that eclipses the other two. Jamie and Beth's evening ride to the diner on a horse is romantic in a subtle way rarely seen before.

If you think I haven't described anything dramatically worthy of a full-length motion picture, you're right. The real drama bleeds out of the actors' interior depictions, the personal strength that overcomes diminishment by the vast plains, snow-capped mountains, and weak men.

Because the three episodes are derived from native Maile Maloy's short stories, Certain Women is a tour de force of feminism disguised as rambling stories of women making a hard living in a hard West. Hooray for them as the cowboys and the horses are not the real forces at work.

In rural / small-town Montana, three stories interact: a lawyer (Laura Dern) seems unable to set boundaries with an ex-client (Jared Harris) who is unhinged and deranged; a rather uptight woman (Michelle Williams) tries to find motivation in building a new home even though her husband and teenage daughter are growing more and more distant from her; a young rancher (Lily Gladstone) is infatuated with a recent law graduate (Kristen Stewart) who arrives in her town twice a week to teach an educational law night class.

"Certain Women" is written and directed by Kelly Reichardt and based on short stories by Maile Meloy. Like other Reichardt films (her best is "Meek's Cutoff" (2010)), this one tells so much in the unspoken word - where a silent reply says so much more than a bluntly worded statement. She is blessed with a superb cast who can make the viewer feel so much with a camera lingering on their faces.

It's tempting to think "nothing is happening" at the beginning of each segment. But once viewers catch on to Reinhardt's unique style, they can see that a lot is actually happening. The Gladstone/Stewart story stands out for various reasons and not just the great acting (Gladstone rightly won many awards for her performance). It provides a great re-telling of the tragic story of someone having a crush on another who aspires to be (or already is) in a higher class in the socioeconomic hierarchy.

Their story, like the others, have a theme of loneliness and isolation even for those who are surrounded by people. This film has a special and unique charm that is quite rewarding. - dbamateurcritic.

Greetings again from the darkness. This is surely one of the most intriguing movies of the year that is about women and by a woman. Writer/director Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, 2008) has adapted the short stories from Maile Meloy into a film with 3 segments focusing on the daily perseverance of three women in small town Montana (including a rare Wyoming joke).

The first segment has lawyer Laura Dern returning to the office after an … umm … "long lunch meeting". Waiting for her is her client played by Jared Harris ("Mad Men"). The frustration between the two is palpable. Things take a turn for the worse as the sheriff calls Dern to the scene where Harris has taken a hostage at gunpoint. The issues on display here include the lack of respect for a female attorney, her unsatisfying personal life, and the one-way trust that can happen in times of desperation.

In the next story, we follow Michelle Williams and her husband James LeGros as they meet with a lonely elderly neighbor (Rene Auberjonis) and offer to buy some limestone blocks that have been sitting on his property for decades. The subtlety of the conversation embodies the missing respect and power of Ms. Williams' character.

Emotions are exploding beneath the surface in the third segment featuring horse handler Lily Gladstone as she stumbles into a class being taught by Kristen Stewart, and is immediately captivated by the smart young teacher. Where this attraction leads is further commentary on the challenges faced by those trying to escape the daily drudgery of their lives.

The above recaps don't come close to capturing the extraordinary quiet and stillness that director Reichardt uses in an emotionally powerful manner. These three women are all intelligent and filled with both pride and visceral disappointment … each quietly suffering, yet trudging forward with the emptiness each day brings. They each have a feeling of isolation – even if they aren't truly alone, and failed or lackluster relationships certainly play a role.

The acting and cinematography (film, not digital!) is as expert as the directing. Ms. Gladstone is truly a standout by saying few words out loud, but speaking volumes with her open and pleading eyes. The nuance of each scene is where the most interest is, and the overall mood of the characters and tone of the stories overcome the fact that we are plopped into these lives with little or no backstory. As each one softly crashes (two figuratively, one literally), we understand these are the faces of strong women who will continue to do what's necessary … even if that's shoveling horse poop. The film is dedicated to Ms. Reichardt's dog Lucy (a key to her personal and professional life).

For foreign amateur reviewers on metacritic who complain that Hollywood never strays far from explosions and car chases, this is a reminder you can always find American art-school drama. It's a character study about women, obviously, three short stories that just barely and arbitrarily intersect. (Our favorite one about men is "Saint Jack" (1978) with Ben Gazzara in Singapore, which was shot in secret to avoid Singapore's nanny-state censors.) Some homegrown amateurs on metacritic complain that nothing "happened." Kids, write this down: there was a lot happening in emotional depth and light feminist themes in the backdrop of a vast, lonely, Montana vista that was a treat in itself. Not everything needs to follow a linear narrative with dramatic spikes or tropes. In any case, it's great to see Laura Dern in low gear after her manic performance in A-List TV ("Enlightened") as well as Jared Harris from "Mad Men."

I appreciate a pretty wide variety of films. I wouldn't call myself an indie junkie, but I like creativity that gets me to think or be aware in a new way and indie can certainly do that. Of course, sometimes aspects of a film will evade me (what was X about? what did Y mean?) and then I seek out others--and IMDb--to fill in the gaps.

I have to admit, I left this film lost and unsatisfied. Too MUCH of it was a gap for me. Sure, I had some basic insights: how the normal-ness of life is worthy of attention and how the painful constancy of loneliness exists in so many lives. The acting was good. I found the long pans and the "un-action" movie action interesting. At least for a while. But by about halfway, that was it. Those insights just repeated themselves. I spent the second half hoping for something to shed light, to at least tie some loose ends together. But it never came.

And it wasn't just me and my friend. As we sat in the emptying theater after the movie, discussing our thoughts about it, an elderly lady shuffled out behind us and said, "I don't mean to blow my own horn, but I have a Ph.D. in English Literature. And STILL I can't figure out what that movie was about! Do you?" So it wasn't just me.

This is all I can conclude: This film slowly detailed 3 vignettes, suggesting there was something being told. Then it had nothing to say. Maybe it's a Zen thing. But it wasn't a satisfying experience for me. The stories came out of nowhere and went nowhere, albeit with some beautiful scenes and emotions presented along the way and excellent acting. When it was over, there was no "there" there for me. I think that's what left me feeling unsatisfied. It was like a pretty mosaic left in pieces. I can infer that someone formed a design with it and I want to see that design. But it's in pieces and, try as I might, I can't put the pieces together. In fact, it feels like some pieces are missing. So I walk away baffled.

Maybe this says more about me than this movie. Whatever the case, I walked away unsettled and not in an enlightened way. That didn't feel good.

"Certain Women" (2016 release; 107 min.) brings several stories about ordinary women in a remote community in Montana. As the movie opens, we get to know Laura Wells, a lawyer who just had a quickie with her lover over lunch time ("I had a meeting", she says to her assistant upon getting back to the office). Waiting for Laura is a disgruntled client, who feels he's been cheated out of an injury settlement he feels he's entitled to. An exasperated Laura decides to take him to another lawyer for a second opinion. At this point we're 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from writer-director-editor Kelly Reichardt, the acclaimed indie movie director who previously brought us "Wendy & Lucy" and "Meek's Cutoff" (both starring Michelle Williams, who returns here as well). The movie brings three basically unrelated stories (based on Maile Meloy's collection "Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It"), and they all involve very ordinary people and ordinary lives that are shook up in one way or another (I'm biting my lips here, but won't spoil anything). The first story stars Laura Dern as the lawyer and Jared Harris as the disgruntled client; the second story stars Michelle Williams as the wife/mother in a strained marriage. The best, though, is saved for last, when we watch with fascination (and heartbreak) what unfolds between Kristen Stewart (as the Livingston, MT lawyer teaching a school law class in faraway Belfry, MT) and Lily Gladsone (as the lonesome horse rancher attending the class). I cannot recall seeing Kristen Stewart being more authentic in any previous role, even as compared to her roles in, say, "On the Road" or "The Runaways". Another major plus for the movie is that Reichardt lets a scene develop. Certain camera shots seemingly last forever. I don't mean to be snobby, but one of the reviews posted here gives this movie the lowest possible rating and compares it to 'watching paint dry'. I feel rather sorry for that person that he or she cannot appreciate a high quality movie like "Certain Women" (it is not a coincidence that this is rated 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes).

"Certain Women" premiered at the Sundance film festival earlier this year to great acclaim, and finally opened this past weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Tuesday evening screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely, and you could hear a pin drop during much of the movie, as the audience seemed glued to their seat and the big screen. If you are in the mood for a top-notch indie movie with several great character studies and correlating outstanding acting performances, you cannot go wrong with this. "Certain Women" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This is not a movie with a big connection or a twist of some sorts. Personally I was watching it for Kristen Stewart and she appeared briefly in the movie. Nevertheless, I felt satisfied with this film. Nothing over the top, I had a free evening and decided to watch something relaxing without over the top production costs or visual quality. Just a story about simple people trying to live their everyday lives. Sometimes you need a movie like this just to feel normal...

You know from the movie previews and the rumblings from the multiplex's adjacent theater that today's movies are heavily weighted toward "action films." Writer-director-editor Kelly Reichardt could singlehandedly reverse that trend with Certain Women, which can most succinctly be described as an "inaction film." It's kind of hard to get used to Reichardt's pace, so you might watch this and think "Wha---?" Here, the drama is at the deep inside the characters, hidden from all views except the closest. And that's what it gets from Reichardt—"a poet of silences and open spaces," says A.O. Scott in the New York Times. Based on short stories by Maile Meloy, the film is set in and around Livingston, Montana, and the views of the lonely snowswept plains are breathtaking. The story is presented in three separate vignettes that barely intersect. In the first, Laura Dern plays Laura Wells, a lawyer trying to convince her persistent client (Jared Harris) that he can't sue his former employer for on-the-job injuries because he already accepted a settlement. The client doesn't believe it until a male lawyer tells him the same thing. She's disappointed at many levels—with her clients, her career, her love life. The middle vignette involves Gina (Michelle Williams), a married woman with a disaffected teenage daughter. She and her husband are building a new house, and she hopes to convince a slightly addled, elderly neighbor (Rene Auberjonois) to sell them a pile of unused sandstone blocks in his front yard. Behind Gina's bright smile, you can feel her irritation that the neighbor focuses his attention not on her request but on her husband, eliding the decision, and finally the husband sells her out. Even within the bosom of her family, it's clear, she's alone. The dreamiest and most poignant sequence follows the young woman Jamie—beautifully underplayed by Lily Gladstone—on her daily routine, feeding and caring for a group of horses on a remote ranch. The repetitiveness of her tasks in the snowy, mountains in the distance, is mesmerizing. Her routine and her equilibrium are disturbed by a chance acquaintance with Beth, a harried young lawyer played by Kristen Stewart, overwhelmed by her own, very different grind. The extent of Jamie's disturbance is painfully revealed in her quiet face, upon which "silent passion surges like an underground stream," Scott says. The acting is subtle and true, and Reichardt closely follows the dictum, "show, don't tell." Her characters don't scream and rail and tell you what their issues are. You see it laid bare in front of you.

I liked this movie, despite it being extremely slow moving and not really following any sort of traditional plot. The movie wasn't intended to do that, after all. It was more of a snapshot into life in a pretty harsh environment, and one that makes me glad I live where I do, despite the beauty of the landscapes captured.

At times I found this movie blackly amusing (the hostage scene, the little doggy chasing after the buggy, the teachers asking irrelevant questions of the lawyer), and at other times it was desperately sad and a little depressing (that small town life just isn't for me).

Overall I would recommend it, but not if you're only into action or psychological thrillers or slasher flicks - it's just not that kinda movie.

When I saw high reviews for this, my wife & I settled in to be entertained. So we waited, and waited...being from a small town I thought perhaps I could relate. Not many people will "get this" movie. Follow 3 small town people around for a day or two. Exciting? Not at all. Something's gotta happen soon!.....end credits. Pretty much every day life for some of us, nothing exciting, as much drama as watching the neighbor let the dog out...and sometimes that's more interesting than this film was.

Apparently this is one of the director's best works. I'll dust off the cobwebs, and skip those other movies as this was a complete aimless bore. Just one opinion from a speechless movie fan that was waiting to be entertained and would have had more fun watching paint dry. The only people that will find this compelling & entertaining (you have to be pretty damn desperate) is someone who has never lived in a small town, or the Mid-West, and then you probably won't understand it. To think money was spent producing such an empty plate, is beyond me.

Kelly Reichardt surely makes films like no one else right now, and without really trying too hard to be different, edgy, or unique. Her vision and voice just come across powerfully in her films, in their sensibilities and in their unspoken moments of quiet, harmony, and sensitivity. Although I wasn't really a fan of Night Moves, I was of Wendy and Lucy and of Meek's Cutoff. I believe this may be her best film yet. All three female leads (four if you want to count Stewart) do a really fine job. Particularly Lily Gladstone, who is a real force to be reckoned with and who I hope to see in the future again. This is a quiet and tender film, powerful for what it doesn't explicitly say rather than for what it does.

This movie is very simple with his element, not a big plot but just a four different women showing who they are , it was really nice it's have a good cinematoghraphy and very good performances for Kristen Stewart ,Laura dern , Michelle Williams and Lily Gladstone I just love this kind of movies and I think it's very underrated

A carefully crafted and subtle indie film about three separate women living in rural Montana faced with loneliness and dissatisfaction in their lives. Two with men who who will never appreciate them. All three women of tremendous strength who find a way to keep on trudging through a brutal existence. Reinforced by the stark background of a cold Montana winter. Superb acting. Quiet brilliance from the director.

Certain Women from director Kelly Reichardt is essentially three unrelated short stories, one about a lawyer (Laura Dern) with a client who spirals after his employer has done him wrong, another about a mother (Michelle Williams) trying to secure materials for her family to begin building a home, and the last about a farm worker (Lily Gladstone) drawn to a lawyer (Kristen Stewart) whose night classes she randomly begins attending.

You could say there are elements of desperation and perseverance in each of the stories, quiet little lives underneath the leaden skies and stark beauty of Montana, and there is a certain quiet strength in the characters, which I liked. Not surprisingly, the cinematography is beautiful, and the performances are strong, especially Gladstone's (oh, and the corgi's!-). I was drawn most to her character's story and the simplicity with which she offered herself, even when making grand gestures, as her naked soul tugged the heartstrings. The other two stories were less interesting to me, maybe because they were such vignettes that I felt they needed fleshing out, or maybe because I just felt less of an emotional response. I wish there had been a little more connective tissue between the stories as well, thematically or narratively. All in all, it's a quality film, but fell just a little bit short of great for me.

This movie has great actors and was playing at Amerst Cinema which usually shows only very good films, many independent. However, I feel compelled to say this is not a movie worth paying to see in the theater. It watches like a hastily finished school film project. It had no real storyline, just slice of life stuff that wasn't really too interesting. Maybe I'm not as sophisticated as some film people but I'd guess at least 9 out of 10 people who watch this film won't enjoy it at all and those few that claim they did will do so only because they think it makes some sort of deep point but, if given truth serum no one would or could actually claim to have been entertained. As an aside, it also makes the wonderful state of Montanna seem like a terrible place, which it's not! Anyway, wait for Netflix because this is not worth paying your hard earned money to see - trust me!

This film by Kelly Reichardt combines three short stories by Maile Meloy exploring the lives of four women in early 21st-century Montana. Occasionally the characters tell us what they're feeling or thinking, but for the most part the dialogue matters less than the situations and the actors' characterizations, which means that the film relies on small details for its effect. Some will admire the subtlety while others will deplore the lack of action. For those with the patience, the film offers many rewards--including humor in unexpected spots, like the teachers' questions during their school law class.

As you might expect from the cast, the acting is uniformly excellent. Even in this stellar group Lily Gladstone stands out as a calm, pure presence.

The photography by Christopher Blauvelt shows Montana in subdued winter light usually with distant mountains on the horizon. In the beautiful final shot we see the mountains framed like a work of art on the far wall of a barn.

These characters are not leading lives of quiet desperation, but you get the feeling that their lives didn't quite turn out the way they thought they would either. The incidents portrayed in the movie are important in the lives of the four protagonists, but they don't send the characters off in new directions or radically change their lives. Instead, in the hands of Reichardt and Meloy, they show us who these characters are in a deep and deeply sympathetic way.

I don't often take the time to write a full-fledged review. But after watching this for the first time last night and sleeping on it, I can't get this movie out of my head.

Most of Hollywood manages to dazzle us with huge explosions, action sequences, bright colors, complete overstimulation, both visual and auditory. This is not one of those movies.

It is a quiet story, that demanded my attention. At times bittersweet and poetic, it painted a simple picture. A window into the lives of four women in a period of their lives. I can definitely see why other people may not like it. It is not a genre for everybody. I think it told a really powerful tale though. It didn't need bright flashy colors, or magnificent wide shots or explosions. The muted pallet, soft backgrounds, hints of scenery. It kept me focused on what was really important. The story. Which was both hopeful and sad.

Seen at the Viennale 2016: Definitely a wasted luxury to work with so talented actresses just to finish with a meditative piece of filmed daily routine in US hometowns. Why did Kelly Reichardt not go the whole way to get authentic realistic footage? And simple shoot pictures of some real people in an US hometown? A documentary with real people would produce even a more honest picture of daily routine. There was really no need to take the lifetime of top-notch actresses for this. Apart from that I must admit, Kristen Stewart is a really treat to watch on the big screen. I wonder, why do some people have such an extraordinary aura?...

I guess you either love it or hate it... I liked it very much. I especially loved the third story of the lonely rancher, Jamie (played beautifully by Lily Gladstone), who takes a chance to connect with someone she meets by chance. The glorious and lonely Montana landscape is the perfect backdrop for this film. I will remember it.

At its best, Kelly Reichardt's slow-burning, understated cinema is intimately absorbing, such as in the fine third segment of Certain Women, about a boyish ranch hand (Lily Gladstone) who start attending an insignificant class on education law at the local school in order to get closer to the course's young, abstracted teacher (Kristen Stewart). Like with most anthology films, however, Certain Women suffers from a disjointed nature, and Reichardt's feeble attempts at connecting the three stories work more as a distraction than anything else. The middle segment, about a family in slow disintegration (with Michelle Williams and James LeGros) is so prosaic that you hardly notice its there. That being said, the movie's naturalistic approach strips away any typical Hollywood affectations and makes this an authentic, if not exactly engrossing viewing experience.

The shots and acting were great. And to be honest, I don't think I'd mind the simpleness of it if that's what I had expected but across several platforms the synopsis includes phrases like "strong women" and "blazing a trail" which are HUGE overstatements. There is really nothing "strong" about these women outside of the fact that they are women.

Many summaries also say that this is about the lives of the women "intersecting". Again, an extreme overstatement.

Lastly, and I think most frustrating for me, is that many synopsis state this is a story about three women, when in fact there are four women. There are four on the cover, there are four in the movie. I guess you could argue that we never see Kristen Stewart's character alone, yet the summary on google plainly states that the three women are played by K Stewart, L Dern, and M Williams. Completely neglecting the best performance in the film, Lily Gladstone.