Night Moves

Director: Kelly Reichardt Kelly Reichardt

Overview

Kelly Reichardt's drama Night Moves stars Jesse Eisenberg as Josh, a young man who is immersing himself in the concept of eco-terrorism. Along with Dena (Dakota Fanning) and an older man named Harmon (Peter Sarsgaard), Josh hatches a plan to blow up a dam in order to strike back at the capitalist forces that he believes are ruining the land. After their efforts end up triggering some unexpected results, Josh begins to wonder if can trust his cohorts to keep quiet, and worries that he may soon be confronted by the authorities. Night Moves screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/26/2018
UPC:	0767685158609
Original Release:	2013
Rating:	R
Source:	Cinedigm Mod

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jesse Eisenberg	Josh
Dakota Fanning	Dena
Peter Sarsgaard	Harmon
Traber Burns	Felix
Autumn Nidalmia	Mable
Barry Del Sherman	Corser
Jason Rojas	Activist 1
Clara Mamet	Activist Filmmaker
Mikey Kampmann	Activist 2
Matt Malloy	Boat Owner
Paddric Fitzgerald	Busboy
Jeff Rowles	Feed Store Customer
Scott Patrick Green	Feed Store Customer
Joel Polinsky	Goose
Bart McCarthy	Farmer 1
Ernie Ephraim	Farmer 2
Gavin MacCartney	Kid at Campground
Jonah Goergen	Kid at the Lake
Oliver Goergen	Kid at the Lake
Lew Temple	Wandering Camper
Nate Mooney	Driver with Flat Tire
Jennifer Snook	Cop
Jackie Apodaca	Woman at Spa
Christopher Liam Moore	Librarian
Kaiti Zemet	Sports Store Employee
Griffin Newman	Middle Manager
Alia Shawkat	Actor
Logan Miller	Actor
Kai Lennox	Actor
Katherine Waterston	Actor
James LeGros	Actor

Technical Credits

Kelly Reichardt

Jon Raymond

Kelly Reichardt	Director,Editor,Screenwriter
Mark Bennett	Casting
Chris Blauvelt	Cinematographer
Chris Carroll	Asst. Director
Almitra Corey	Art Director
Tarra Day	Makeup
Alejandro DeLeon	Executive Producer
Vicki Farrell	Costumes/Costume Designer
Larry Fessenden	Executive Producer
Jeff Grace	Score Composer
Elliott Hostetter	Production Designer
Kent Sparling	Sound/Sound Designer
Saemi Kim	Producer
Saerom Kim	Executive Producer
Neil Kopp	Producer
Chris Maybach	Producer
Glenn Micallef	Sound Mixer
Jon Raymond	Screenwriter
Laura Rosenthal	Casting
Lourenço Sant'anna	Executive Producer
Vincent Savino	Co-producer
Anish Savjani	Producer
Rodrigo Teixeira	Producer
Todd Haynes	Executive Producer
Sheila Trujillo-Gomez	Makeup

Editorial Reviews

The landscape always matters in Kelly Reichardt's movies. From the seemingly welcoming Oregon woods in Wendy and Lucy to the rugged Old West of Meek's Cutoff, her unhurried films have a distinct sense of the outdoors. Night Moves continues this trend, focusing on two young eco-terrorists who strike back against the capitalistic forces that have perverted nature. It's a thriller, but one filtered through Reichardt's singularly deliberate pace. Jesse Eisenberg stars as Josh, who, along with his friend Dena (Dakota Fanning), begins attending local presentations from environmental-advocacy groups willing to resort to extreme measures to get their point across. They prove themselves to be worthy acolytes, and soon make contact with an older member of the group named Harmon (Peter Sarsgaard); together, the three of them plan to blow up a nearby dam. When there are unexpected complications to their plot, the three split up and agree not to contact each other. Later, Josh discovers that their activities may not have been as effective as he'd imagined, and he gets word that Dena is struggling with the guilt she feels over their actions. If you are at all familiar with Reichardt's previous work, Night Moves is unmistakably hers. Along with talented cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt, she establishes the majesty of the Pacific Northwest without succumbing to storybook pictures. They make it feel like a real and vivid place, and if the movie were primarily about environmental concerns, the images would do more to convince viewers of the importance of that topic than anything else. However, Reichardt and her frequent co-screenwriter Jonathan Raymond are more interested in getting inside Josh's head than inside a particular political mind-set; this is a film about living with guilt, not saving the world. To that end, the casting of Jesse Eisenberg makes more sense as the movie goes on. He's an actor who gives off a big-city vibe -- there's something initially incongruous about seeing him in L.L. Bean gear. But as the second half of the film develops into an increasingly unsettling psychological drama, he's a compelling presence whose dead-eyed stare indicates the emotions roiling inside of Josh, even though the character remains outwardly placid. The biggest disconnect in the movie, however, is the section in which we witness the attack on the dam. It's a straightforward, men-on-a-mission thriller sequence, but Reichardt's style doesn't naturally build tension. Her editing rhythms are so measured that it's hard to overlook how purposefully she's trying to create and maintain suspense. You can appreciate what she's trying to do here, especially in her use of sound during this sequence, but you don't really feel tense. That holds true for the movie as a whole. Reichardt has once again made something that mixes the majestic with the mundane, telling a small human story that hints at much broader and grander themes without ever addressing them in a direct manner. As a psychological exploration of guilt and paranoia, Night Moves works well enough, but as a thriller, it inevitably disappoints.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert