Starring
Gene Hackman, Susan Clark, Jennifer Warren, Edward Binns, Harris
Yulin, Janet Ward, Anthony Costello, James Woods, Melanie Griffith,
Kenneth Mars. Directed by Arthur Penn. (1975, 100 min).
Night
Moves is another film that, despite its director and star, never
found an audience during its initial release. Is it a lost classic?
Not quite, but it does showcase another great performance by Gene
Hackman.
Then
again, when hasn't Hackman been great? Even the bad ones he's
appeared in are never really his fault. That's not to say Night
Moves is a bad movie. Far from it. Maybe initial audiences were
expecting more of a standard thriller than an atmospheric character study. Despite a murder
mystery thrown into the mix relatively late in the story, this is
mostly about Harry Moseby (Hackman), an ex-football player, now a
private detective who's been hired by a has-been starlet to locate
her wayward, free-spirited daughter, Delly (Melanie Griffith, in her
debut).
 |
| "Goddammit, someone took the last YooHoo!" |
Harry
meets a variety of eccentric folks along the way, some who are in the
movie business, others eking out a living on the Florida coast. But
all of them have some sort of connection to Delly. Harry's also
trying to come to terms with his cheating wife (Susan Clark) and her
lover (Harris Yulin), which forces him to re-examine his own life. If
it sounds like film noir from the 40s, that
was undoubtedly director Arthur Penn's intention.
 |
| Best...fondue...ever. |
As
such, it's a leisurely-but-enjoyable ride peppered with interesting
characters, including a quirky early performance by James Woods (he
hasn't changed much since). The movie belongs to Hackman, though. I
don't know if the role was created for him, but he
embodies Harry's world-weary cynicism perfectly.
Night
Moves has grown in stature over the years, though it's
hardly a cinema milestone compared to Hackman & Penn's previous
collaboration, Bonnie and Clyde. Still, Hackman is compulsively watchable, as usual, and as a solid mid-70s' spin on classic noir, it's an interesting curiosity worth rediscovery.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
FEATURETTE:
"The Day of the Director" (Vintage behind-the-scenes promo
documentary)
TRAILER
KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS
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