US indie writer/director Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff) is quietly building up a strong body of oppositional films. Her work confronts personal, social and economic situations that many people find themselves existing in America’s advanced capitalist society.
Night Moves, co-written by her regular collaborator Jon Raymond, tells the story of a trio of home-grown terrorists or eco-activists as they would prefer, from Oregon who hatch a plan to blow up a local dam that’s damaging the environment.
Winningly Reichardt casts three actors who intensely play to their own strengths: Jesse Eisenberg (in his best performance since The Social Network) is Josh, a hyper-intelligent self styled eco-warrior who sticks it to the Man when he can, who teams up with Dakota Fanning’s Dena, a classic spoiled rich-girl rebel and Peter Sarsgaard’s Harmon, an oily ex-Marine and ex-con who lives off the grid. Night Moves is the name of the boat they use to commit their act of terrorism but also describes each person’s covert decisions to contact each other after the crime.
A slow moving yet gripping gem of a story greatly aided by stark beautiful cinematography and a haunting film score and probably Reichardt’s most accessible film to date.