Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Places in the World: Reichardt Makes “Night Moves”

Cinema | December 12th, 2014


Filmmaker Kelly Reichardt continues to build her reputation as a storyteller of remarkable skill with “Night Moves,” a pressure cooker of a movie that observes the actions of a trio of radical environmental activists who plot to blow up a dam in the Pacific Northwest. Like her recent work, including “Meek’s Cutoff,” “Wendy and Lucy” and “Old Joy,” “Night Moves” operates with visual precision and thoughtful staging. Rather than depend on dialogue-driven exposition and traditional plotting, Reichardt maintains an exacting distance from the dramatized actions, asking the viewer to draw conclusions from several tantalizing ambiguities.

Jesse Eisenberg is Josh, a sullen, close-mouthed organic farmhand wound up tight with a level of indignation that matches his commitment to sustainability. Partnered with Dena (Dakota Fanning), a health spa employee from a wealthy background, Josh prepares to meet up with Harmon (Peter Sarsgaard), a mysterious ex-soldier who claims to have previous experience in planning and executing dangerous, clandestine acts of mayhem. The government would likely label these three people “terrorists,” and one of Reichardt’s strengths is the careful way in which she withholds judgment, neither supporting nor condemning the plotters.

Reichardt co-wrote “Night Moves” with Jonathan Raymond, and their story’s similarity to Edward Abbey’s 1975 novel “The Monkey Wrench Gang” resulted in a lawsuit prior to the start of production. A feature film based on Abbey’s novel was being developed by Edward Pressman, who objected to parallels between Reichardt’s project and his own, and the complaint cited three basic areas of overlap: “the targeting of a dam for destruction by means of ammonium fertilizer-laden boats,” a U.S. Marine veteran with a knowledge of demolitions, and a “20-something woman who starts out as a companion of another member of the group but develops a sexual relationship with the bomb-making veteran.”

Obviously, the conflict was resolved and “Night Moves” was completed, but, similarities to “The Monkey Wrench Gang” aside, Reichardt’s film arrived following Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling’s “The East,” a far more conventional and less satisfying thriller that also addresses eco-terrorism. By contrast, Reichardt’s devoted taciturnity is sophisticated and demanding. The filmmaker runs the risk of alienating those who expect to learn something about the how and the why leading the characters toward violence, but will delight observers comfortable with drawing their own conclusions. One shocking incident that occurs late in the narrative is so disturbing, it echoes all the way to the movie’s final shot, an image of dread and paranoia.

Based on its subject matter, “Night Moves,” at first glance, seems far away from Reichardt’s three most recent features, but a closer look links the newest film with the other titles. Thematically, Reichardt likes to contemplate the relationship between all kinds of people and the environments with which they interact. Human-versus-nature is often identified as one of the classic structural conflicts in literature, and Reichardt grounds her stories in situations that carefully contemplate one’s “place” in the world. Whether or not “Night Moves” is as good as “Meek’s Cutoff” or “Wendy and Lucy” is debatable, but Reichardt’s remarkable facility with the icebox talk that blooms from the steady supply of nerve-wracking setbacks and unfortunate encounters with potential witnesses reveals a moviemaker at the top of her game.

“Night Moves” is now available on demand.

Recently in:

Proposed Bills Could Take Books off Library ShelvesBy Laura Simmonslaurasimmons2025@u.northwestern.edu The passing of ND House Bill 1205 and ND Senate Bill 2360, which would prevent sexually explicit books from being in public…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comHPR chats with a local legendThe following interview was done in February of 2016, just a few months after Mr. Josef Olivieri's 90th birthday. We're sorry to hear of his passing at the age of 97 on…

Tuesday, March 21, 6:30pmZandbroz Variety, FargoAuthor of “Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land” Taylor Broby will discuss the important role libraries play in their communities as sanctuaries of acceptance. He will…

By John Strandjas@hpr1.comOur Opinion: Who on Earth would ever want to move to North Dakota?Let’s talk about the left hand and the right hand. Or, more correctly, let’s focus on the right hand, being as there is no left in ND…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comTwo ForumWhite Nationalist Trumplican Nincoms Have Pooped All Over LibrariansSo it has come to pass that Scott Hennen and Ross Nelson have assaulted librarians in the state, accusing them of…

Well shiver me timbers. After weeks of sampling some of the finest drinks in F-M from more bars than we could shake a belaying pin at, the results of High Plains Reader’s 6th Annual Cocktail Showdown are in! For nine weeks,…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.comWhen thinking of popular sandwiches associated with the Upper Midwest, the sloppy joe immediately comes to mind. But let’s not forget the sandwich with a spicy side – the taco grinder. It’s a…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comphoto by Andy Wilcox Many of Fargo-Moorhead’s talented bands and musicians have been able to gain fans around the country. Some of this, of course, is due to social media making it…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.comKevin Armento’s play “Killers” inspired both Stefanie Abel Horowitz’s 2019 short film “Sometimes, I Think About Dying” and Rachel Lambert’s 2023 feature “Sometimes I Think About…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comIf you’ve ever driven down the Enchanted Highway, the 32-mile ribbon of road connecting Regent to Gladstone in western North Dakota, home to the world’s largest salvaged metal sculptures,…

By Jessica M. Hawkesjmhawkes84@gmail.comIt wasn’t long after the founding of the railroad and river town of New Rockford that entertainment venues started to put down their own roots. Its population bolstered by booms of nearby…

By Jan Syverson  Jan.r.Syverson@gmail.comFor the past 30 years live, stand-up comedy has had a place in the Fargo Moorhead area, Starting with…

By Kris Gruberperriex1@gmail.comSpring is here (mostly), and our area is buzzing with people eager to get back out and about -- many newly vaccinated and feeling a bit safer. Partnering with Jade Events, Fargo Brewing is just…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Ken and Alice Christiansonsubmit@hpr1.com HB 1332 is currently before the North Dakota legislature. The bill proposes to permit social workers to use a discredited treatment method to convert the sexual orientation of gay and…