Review of "Night Moves"
NIGHT MOVES (1975)
Directed by Arthur Penn
Written by Alan Sharp
Starring Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Susan Clark, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin and Kenneth Mars
This film is a powerful piece of sunlit film noir. Harry Moseby (Hackman) is an ex-sports hero turned private detective in Los Angeles. He is called upon to investigate the disappearance of the free-spirited sixteen year old daughter of a faded movie star. Chasing the leads from Los Angeles to the Florida Keys, while at the same time dealing with his discovery of his wife's infidelity, Moseby finds himself immersing himself further in a disturbing world.
This film has never really had the attention it deserves. It is very much part of the 1970s 'New Hollywood' movement that the director Penn helped usher in with Bonnie & Clyde (1968). It shares the darkness and cynicism common to many films of the 1970s. It references a lot of the classic film noir of the 1940s and 50s, and the storyline is typically noir but at the same time it revises the rules. For example, despite the film's title, most of the film takes place in bright sunlight. The private detective, the film's nominal hero, is more or less a loser, taking up the profession after he failed to make it as a professional athlete, his wife is cheating on him, and seems quite contemptuous of him. Hackman gives a brilliant performance as an essentially decent man, aware of a lifetime of disappointment but always struggling to do the right thing as he sees it. One of the themes of the film is age, in particular the gap between the old and the young. It's a strangely complex film, filled with hints and glimpses of crimes and savagery even worse then what is actually depicted in the film. It evokes a beautiful, sunlit world filled with savagery and corruption, where no-one is innocent and everyone is both predator and prey at the same time. Watch out for early appearances by Melanie Griffith (as the runaway daughter) and James Woods (as her sleazy, mechanic boyfriend). This is definitely worth catching.
Nine out of ten
Directed by Arthur Penn
Written by Alan Sharp
Starring Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Susan Clark, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin and Kenneth Mars
This film is a powerful piece of sunlit film noir. Harry Moseby (Hackman) is an ex-sports hero turned private detective in Los Angeles. He is called upon to investigate the disappearance of the free-spirited sixteen year old daughter of a faded movie star. Chasing the leads from Los Angeles to the Florida Keys, while at the same time dealing with his discovery of his wife's infidelity, Moseby finds himself immersing himself further in a disturbing world.
This film has never really had the attention it deserves. It is very much part of the 1970s 'New Hollywood' movement that the director Penn helped usher in with Bonnie & Clyde (1968). It shares the darkness and cynicism common to many films of the 1970s. It references a lot of the classic film noir of the 1940s and 50s, and the storyline is typically noir but at the same time it revises the rules. For example, despite the film's title, most of the film takes place in bright sunlight. The private detective, the film's nominal hero, is more or less a loser, taking up the profession after he failed to make it as a professional athlete, his wife is cheating on him, and seems quite contemptuous of him. Hackman gives a brilliant performance as an essentially decent man, aware of a lifetime of disappointment but always struggling to do the right thing as he sees it. One of the themes of the film is age, in particular the gap between the old and the young. It's a strangely complex film, filled with hints and glimpses of crimes and savagery even worse then what is actually depicted in the film. It evokes a beautiful, sunlit world filled with savagery and corruption, where no-one is innocent and everyone is both predator and prey at the same time. Watch out for early appearances by Melanie Griffith (as the runaway daughter) and James Woods (as her sleazy, mechanic boyfriend). This is definitely worth catching.
Nine out of ten