Director Kelly Reichardt's heartbreaking follow-up to the exquisite Old Joy recalls the spirit of writer John Steinbeck and film-maker Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D). Already impoverished, Wendy (Michelle Williams) breaks down in a small Oregon town as she heads towards Alaska in hope of a job at a cannery. Unable to afford food for herself and her faithful dog Lucy, let alone the garage bill, she's arrested for shoplifting and later finds that her sole companion in the world has disappeared. It says much for Williams's poignantly understated performance that she is not upstaged by her photogenic canine sidekick. But it's the evocation of the Great Depression, with its train tracks, hobos and gnawing sense of defeat, decay and despair, that leaves the most indelible impression. With quirky support from Will Patton's caustic mechanic and Walter Dalton's sympathetic security guard, this is a bittersweet triumph.