With: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard
The first movie I've watched that is directed by Kelly Reichardt is Wendy and Lucy. Its plot, on paper, is something that will make me go crazy for it but Reichardt's way of directing tends to go beyond mainstream's way that it didn't translate to being likable and engaging. That movie is so slow and Night Moves is no different.
Night Moves is a story about three environmentalists who executed a plan to blow up a dam due to their uncompromising environmental beliefs. The plot sounds like it doesn't make sense to be made for a film but the film actually rather explores more on the three environmentalist's characters persona right after they executed their plan. Conscience, guilt and threat are three themes that are subtly displayed here and at the end of it all, it still leaves a question on why Reichardt chose to make this kind of film. The film boasts on its beautiful cinematography but the suspense that it evokes is not that effective. I was rather bored watching it and it gave me a flashback of my same reaction while I was watching Wendy and Lucy.
Great thing about this film are the performances of Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard.
Eisenberg is still stiff as usual but he fearlessly leaves his conventional likable characters for an eco-terrorist who probably is the most ruthless of the three. Fanning can be relied on the dramatics just like how she was as a child actress but she also managed to portray a mature character with such grit and delicacy. Saarsgard on the other hand looks like a young Jack Nicholson here. But he didn't exceed my expectations when I watched him in the film's trailer.
But who cares really, as nothing really exceeded my expectations for the film. I obviously missed out on something but it's a film that I really don't care if I missed out on anything. I'm afraid that the thrilling buildup for the blow up is the best thing about the film but the catch is, it happened right in the middle of the film and it quickly went downhill right after the potency of its peak. So down and quick, it wasn't able to improve again.
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