Dear Wendy DVD Review

"DEAR WENDY" reviews

DVD

DEAR WENDY

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-02-02 16:55:40

Provider

DVD Review

Contrary to the impression given by the title, Dear Wendy is not some mediocre rom-com but a satire of America's gun culture in which Jamie 'Billy Elliot' Bell plays a pacifist with a crush on a gun, Wendy. As such you won't be too surprised to learn that the film was written by Lars Von Trier, whose Dogme flicks (The Idiots, Dogville) have always adhered to their own arcane rules.

So Dick (Bell), a sensitive boy saved from a life in the mines by his nanny, Clarabelle (Novella Nelson), on the grounds that he'll do something great to save the world one day, gets a job at a supermarket before meeting 'Wendy', with whom he falls in love. Dick is befriended by sullen co-worker Stevie, a gun enthusiast, and the two kickstart a gang of young outsiders.

The Dandies – for that's their name – meet in an abandoned building, where they engage in target practice with antique weapons (each of which has a name), read poetry and vow never to use their guns against another human being. Trouble is, though, this is not only the United States but, more importantly, a Lars Von Trier film, meaning that events never proceed quite as planned...

With Bell magnificent as the sneering Dick and an ending that recalls the visceral power of Peckinpah, Dear Wendy is a heartbreaking, energising snapshot of a generation unable to resist the lure of guns.