#NIGHT MOVES MOVIE MOVIE#

And yet the film is gripping and disturbing. There can't be many screen dramas in which a climactic fight between characters is accompanied with quiet, plangent pan-pipe music on the soundtrack, the sort that one generally hears in the reception at a hotel spa.

#NIGHT MOVES MOVIE MOVIE#

This Night Moves is like a suspense movie held in suspense: a thriller that behaves as if it is a gentle, indie-arthouse film concerned only with evoking the static beauty of nature. There are traces of noir here, too, but distinctively mixed with something calmer, blanker, less obviously flavoured with genre. “The title of Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves has a ghostly echo of Arthur Penn’s 1975 noir of the same name, which featured Gene Hackman as the private detective hunting a missing woman, and getting into a watery nightmare. When disparate coping limits inflict internal depletions, external interventions are superfluous.Īll Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.(2014) “You said no one would get hurt!” Radical environmentalists Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Sarsgaard team up to go for the big one, the explosion of a hydro-electric dam. The physical consequences of the terror attack are described in abstract terms, and the subsequent investigation plays no part in the narrative. Reichardt is only interested in the aftermath of the crime from the perspective of the criminals themselves, and Night Moves traces grim disintegrations at the individual and friendship levels. Night Moves is most compelling in the lead-up to the attack as a tense dynamic develops between the three conspirators, Dena improvising with tenacity to secure the bomb material, the trio then forced to smooth out an unexpected wrinkle on the night of the bombing.Įnergy seeps out of the final act.

Up until last week, hearing most of Bob Seger ‘s catalog without committing some sort of. Night Moves is a film of impotence and despair, and it marks the end of a cycle of films. They function either alone or within a close-knit community of like-minded individuals, and have crossed the line from living sustainably to a yearning for dramatic yet misguided action to wake up the world.įor the more susceptible and fragile Josh and Dena, the absence of parents and family members is notable, while Harmon's military background affords him greater swagger. Bob Seger's 1994 video for his 1962 song 'Night Moves,' which features actor Matt LeBlanc. The mostly off-the-grid existence of Josh, Dena, and Harmon is devoid of grand speeches or debates. It stars Gene Hackman, Susan Clark, Jennifer Warren, Melanie Griffith and James Woods. The Pacific Northwest milieu is suitably moist and dour, but while the rain forest is the source of beauty, the film's low budget is also exposed, particularly in an embarrassingly static driving scene. Night Moves is a 1975 American neo-noir film directed by Arthur Penn. With deliberate pacing and sparse content, the film feeds on the intensity of deluded adults meandering into a major crime. Director Kelly Reichardt co-wrote the script with Jonathan Raymond, and adopts a tight focus on three people, allowing the greater issues to simply exist as background context. Moody, dark, and slow, Night Moves explores misguided idealism. Despite careful attention to detail in planning the nighttime explosion, not everything will go according to plan, resulting in serious rifts between the three conspirators. As a Limited release, Night Moves will only be shown in select movie theaters across major markets. There were 6 other movies released on the same date, including Maleficent, A Million Ways to Die in the West and Filth. After killing Dena somewhat 'accidentally' Josh ends up somewhere in California and casually applies for a job at an outdoor shop, apparently trying to go under the radar.

The trio then have to purchase enough ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a controlled substance, to create the bomb. Night Moves was a Limited release in 2014 on Friday, May 30, 2014. The ending of Night Moves came a little abrupt to me. Their objective is to raise awareness about climate change and the harmful impacts of dams on wild fish habitats, without causing casualties.ĭena comes from a rich family and provides the cash to buy a motorboat. Deadpan Snarker: As a film noir this has a lot of snark, but Paula is the main culprit. His friend Dena (Dakota Fanning) works at a spa, and they join forces with ex-Marine Harmon (Peter Sarsgaard) to plan an eco-terrorist attack on a hydroelectric dam. In Oregon, activist Josh (Jesse Eisenberg) volunteers on an organic produce farm.

Night moves movie