Night Moves

You could tell right away even at age 12, that Natalie Portman was going to grow up and become a fox  when she made her first appearance in The Professional, or Leon if you're a movie nerd. And the same could be said for Chloe Grace Moretz when we were first introduced to her in Kick Ass. Now please let me finish my point before you turn me in to the authorities. The point is, while these two have lived up to or are on their way to living up to their potential, the same can't be said for everyone. I thought that Dakota Fanning was going to be a sure fire star when she was appearing in nearly every movie for about a 5 year period; but as she grew up her face basically stayed the same and now she's pretty much just a tall Cabbage Patch Kid that can talk. She's in that awkward phase where you know she's an adult but man she sure does still look like she's a kid. And what's worse is, it's as if she never really matured as an actress either. As I watched her latest movie Night Moves, it felt as though she brought the same skill set with her that she had in War of the Worlds. She was actually great in that awful excuse for a movie but when you're an adult you should bring some different life experiences with you to the screen ; it seemed like I was watching that same little girl cry over not getting the crust cut off of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Oh well, maybe that's the issue with growing up in Hollywood, these kids never really get to be kids. Thankfully Christian Bale didn't fall victim to this, otherwise he wouldn't have become the loud grunting man that he is today. "Tell me where Catwoman is!!!"

So Kelly Reichardt directed Night Moves, and if you are familiar with her work at all, she takes her sweet time in telling a story, and depending on your personal perspective there's always somewhat of a decent payoff at the end. Well this movie is no different; this film focuses in on three environmental enthusiasts that are soon the be terrorists. They have a plan to make their biggest statement yet when they decide to blow up the local water dam that is run by a major corporation; which they feel is contributing to killing the environment. None of them have done anything on this large of a scale before but they feel as though they have planned everything to a tee and nothing will stop them from going through with it; in spite all of the obvious reasons that pop up that reflect the contrary.

You already know my thoughts on Fanning's performance in this movie and thankfully there is an assumed sex scene with her that we never actually have to see. But I think that both Peter Sarsgaard and Jesse Eisenberg do an excellent job with their characters. There's always that danger that with activists you will get these overly pretentious rich kids who have read three books in their entire lives who feel the need to regurgitate what they have read in a rather preachy manner. And you do kind of get close to this with Sarsgaard spitting out the hipster gospel "Cash; the poor man's currency" at one point. But you do get the sense that Eisenberg's character is truly fed up with what is happening around him as he walks around with this aura of revulsion and contempt with anything that opposes the environment. He barely even allows himself to enjoy what seems to be his dream job of working on a farm as he generally sulks his way through his days. Sarsgaard is the former marine who is in it simply to cause havoc. You get the sense that if they asked him to blow up a toy store he'd do it solely for the reason that Candyland wasn't on sale that week.

This movie is difficult to watch at times mainly because of the pacing; Reichardt wants to make for damn sure that you get a sense of what the characters are truly feeling and what their motives actually are. And she also to a certain extent wants you to empathize with the characters by taking the time to show you both the beautiful area they live in and the people that will be affected if things don't change for the better. The thing is, there are unforeseen consequences that occur as a result of their actions and this is when the movie really starts to pick up steam. You start to see the dark side of certain characters that they didn't even know was there and the movie begins to take on a completely different tone.

I can see why Reichardt continues to get money to make films, I just wish that she had someone else editing her stuff for her. Then again, the same could be said for this site. I rate this movie as barely FRESH but just know what you are getting into before watching. By the way, Fanning wasn't bad in this movie, I've just grown to expect more from her at this point.