Wendy and Lucy(2008)

Wendy (Michelle Williams) is trying to get to Alaska with her beloved dog Lucy. One morning, after a rest in Oregon, her car will not start and she is arrested trying to shoplift dog food. The police force her to leave Lucy behind, and when she returns later that day Lucy is gone.

Eventually, the pound gets a message to Wendy that her missing dog, Lucy, has been at a foster home the whole time. She happily gets the address and promises to pick her up immediately.

That’s the end of the good news. Turns out her car’s problems are worse than it was originally thought, and the cost of repairs — well beyond what Wendy could afford anyway — is greater than the value of the car. She has no transportation anymore.

She uses some of what’s left of her cash to get a cab ride to the foster home where Lucy is. She stops when she sees an elderly man playing with Lucy, then getting in his car to drive off. Wendy sneaks around to the backyard to see Lucy and play with her through the fence. Dirty and disheveled from spending the night in the woods, Wendy realizes that she cannot properly care for Lucy and decides that her beloved dog is better off here with the old man who seemed kind.

So Wendy says goodbye and promises to return for Lucy when she has made some money at the cannery in Alaska.

The movie ends with Wendy hitching a ride on a moving train to finish her trip north.