Review of Night Moves (1975) by David S — 23 Mar 2009

A more than decent neo-noir film from Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde). Penn makes it as counter-culture as possible, as this is unlike any film noir you've ever seen, and the tight script from Alan Sharp leaves all the characters talking fast. As Joseph pointed out this avoids many of the cliches that are abound in many film noirs, but the staple "show the main character in every scene" is still here and it works.

Gene Hackman throws on a might fine performance as the lackluster detective Harry Moseby, a private eye who is plagued by his own inadequacies. James Woods makes his film debut here as Quentin, scrawny rat of a man who is hiding more than he can afford to. Aside from that the rest of the cast puts on a good performance.

The only problem I really had dealt with the technical aspects of the movie. I found some of the camerawork to be really shoddy, but many could argue that that's just the style in the 70's, so it didn't bother me TO much. However, the editing was a problem. For the majority of the time it flew smoothly, but then there were times where the continuity was just unbearable (the scene where Moseby confronts Quentin comes to mind). I know, it's a really nerdy thing to be bitching about, but that's what you get from a kid who's been taking post-production all semester.

All in all it's not a bad film, it just had its quirks. Don't let that stop you from seeing this, as it's a more than solid neo-noir that bends the rules, although Erik Skjoldbjaerg's Insomnia does it much better. The grand finale is excellent though. I loved how there was nothing but silence while Moseby was watching the plane sink, and I think that as Moseby sails away, in circles, that it's highly symbolic of Moseby's own life: a man who perpetually goes nowhere.