Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Saarsgard
Directed by: Kelly Reichardt
Synopsis: Three radical environmentalists look to execute the protest of their lives: the explosion of a hydroelectric dam.
I reviewed a film not so long ago called The East whereby Ellen Page and friends played some radical hippie types. It wasn’t particularly memorable and was filled with overly serious, unlikeable characters. Night Moves treads much the same ground and, despite being slightly more interesting artistically, left me with much the same opinion.
I like the planet as much as the next person. It’s great and it would be amazing if we treated it a bit better. But wouldn’t the world be just as horrible if we all turned into the kind of sullen, earnest and down right miserable people in this movie? The kind of people who scowl at people who use electricity and water to make their lives more convenient. So what if I’m typing this on an iPad. It doesn’t make me a worse person than you. Get over it.
Night Moves is a film that expects us to like three characters played moodily evangelical by Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Saarsgard. Unfortunately there just isn’t anything to like about them. They have a rubbish plan to blow up a damn to save some salmon or something. They go about this plan by ruining the earth by driving pick up trucks and boats, thus making them not only irritating but also hypocritical as well.
Anyway, the plan goes wrong and the film kind of hinges on that moment. Up to that point it’s all about the plan coming to fruition and involves Jesse Eisenberg not saying much. It wasn’t too bad, there was some anticipation there at least. Post plan and the film kind of falls apart a bit, just turning into a generic thriller with not that many thrills. It’s a slow burner that doesn’t really build to any great climax. In fact, it’s more a film about three people and how they deal with the consequences of their actions. Which would be fine if I cared about them in anyway, but I didn’t.