Movie Review: ‘Night Moves’

“Night Moves”
Directed by Kelly Reichardt
Cinedigm
2.0 paws

“Night Moves” wants to be both eco-thriller and character study, but it doesn’t have the substance or stamina to achieve either.

Co-written and directed by indie filmmaker Kelly Reichardt, “Night Moves” follows three environmentalists as they plot to blow up a hydroelectric dam and deal with the consequences. It zooms in on these three near-strangers, brought together for their mission, as they tediously chart out their plan. From the meta moment when the characters watch an environmental film screening, to the painstaking details of getting the fertilizer needed for the explosive, the film is pervaded by tension and paranoia.

Jesse Eisenberg drops his usual wisecracking, fast-talking on-screen persona for a quieter and darker approach in playing Josh, a co-op farmer who masterminds the operation. Eisenberg’s most powerful scenes take place in the quiet moments of moral indecision and the ultimate nervous breakdown that propels the film to its apex. He is given a tough job to do and he does it well, but his performance can’t fill in the gap of a nebulously written character whose back story is just as ambiguous as his motivations.

Dakota Fanning is backed into a similar corner as the rugged college dropout Dena, whose eco-convictions can’t erase her upper-class background. It leaks through when she shells out thousands in cash for the boat, Night Moves, that will act as the vehicle for the trio’s homemade bomb. But she also proves she can haggle skillfully when sent to buy fertilizer in bulk. It’s unclear what bolsters her environmental radicalism or even what she does for a living. There are glimpses of a bathhouse where she works, but it functions more as eerie backdrop than a setting with a purpose.

Then there’s Harmon, the ex-Marine and the brains behind the bomb, played by Peter Sarsgaard – a solid performance and a forgettable character, largely ignored after the crime has been committed.

Dena’s naivete, Harmon’s blithe attitude and Josh’s discomfort with his two partners make for a palpably uneasy and believable chemistry.

Alia Shawkat makes a refreshing appearance as an unnamed foil to Fanning’s character and a potential love interest for Josh. Her interactions with Josh emphasize the alienation he experiences as a result of his actions.

There are small poetic moments – a pregnant doe found dead on the side of the road, Josh’s helplessness as he feels her warm belly and rolls her down the cliff – which foreshadow the arc of things to come.

The cinematography is gorgeous, but after the fourth shot of a truck curving past Oregon’s hauntingly serene forests, it’s impossible not to feel like we’re seeing leftover footage from a car commercial.

The thematic undercurrent of the film ruminates on larger ethical quandaries. Was the trio’s mission worth its price? Are these small acts of chaos an anti-industry statement or cheap and dangerous theatrics? To its benefit, the tone of “Night Moves” is neither moralizing nor condemning. However, it’s too enamored with how its characters behave to explore the implications behind the why of their actions.

The film tries to paint a psychological portrait of the before and after for characters who commit a crime that cannot be undone. But there’s too much negative space to get a clear picture of either, only the crawling logistics of the transition.

This slow-moving atmospheric thriller may have worked if the characters were well-developed. “Night Moves” does pick up its pace considerably in the last half hour, but it concludes just as it starts to get good – ending on a note as unsatisfying as it is underwhelming. The more compelling story, it seems, would be the one that explores the aftermath of the film’s climax.

– Natalie Chudnovsky