Review of Night Moves (1975) by Steve J — 19 Aug 2016

I think this may be the best 70s noir, and I'm very aware it's up against some stiff competition (see Chinatown, The Long Goodbye, etc). I also think it may be Gene Hackman's finest hour, and yes, I'm also aware of Bonnie and Clyde and The Conversation.

Arthur Penn, who directed Bonnie and Clyde, directs this film as well; it's a subtly devastating story, in which the mystery we follow is NOT the mystery actually being unfolded, but like our hero we learn this too late.

Hackman plays Harry Moseby, a private eye in LA who clings to a certain old-fashioned concept of what a man, and specifically a private eye, should be. It's a concept that already seems passe in the decadent, cynical mid-70s LA the film depicts.

At the start, Harry is hired by an aged starlet to find her teenage daughter. Hackman tracks the wayward girl all the way to Florida, and after an interlude there, he is finally able to bring her back home.

However in the process he uncovers a much larger secret, and revealing that secret to the world may bring Harry the redemption he seems only half-aware that he seeks...or it may destroy him. This is a frustrating story to synopsize, because it is so reliant on the element of surprise to be effective (it is a mystery, after all), so the best advice I can give you is JUST GO WATCH IT.