Night Moves (1975)

It would be interesting how many people could name another Arthur Penn film beyond 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde. Nevertheless, it’s good to see some recognition for Penn, strangely enough from HMV’s ‘Premium Collection’ of Blu-rays, a group of films that are well worth browsing. Both his 1985 film Target, and now Night Moves are part of that collection, and both of them star Gene Hackman on fine form. Here, he plays moody private investigator Harry Moseby who is hired by an ageing narcissistic actress to find her young daughter who has run away from home. She is clearly a troubled lady but a narcissist nonetheless; far more interested in her own sex life (whilst being incredibly blasé about her sixteen-year-old daughters’) than her daughter’s upbringing. Her only source of income is her daughter’s trust fund, and she spends that to hire Harry, knowing that the trust fund is reliant on her living with her daughter. Harry is also dealing with his wife’s infidelities, which is also part of the reason he takes the case; he simply doesn’t have the time to deal with their marital issues front on if he’s chasing a runaway across state lines. The reasons that Night Moves is such an excellent film are manifold, the lead one being Hackman himself, channeling his inner “Popeye Doyle” from The French Connection (1975) to create a completely different character but one that is equally interesting to spend time with. Hundreds of films deal with characters who have their own personal demons but Night Moves combines both personal and career problems to make for a genuinely interesting set of characters; Harry’s wife isn’t just a throwaway female who’s cheating on him, she’s a fully rounded character whose issues come to the fore and eventually have to be addressed, meaning that when Harry is investigating the disappearance we feel the baggage he’s sitting on and don’t just forget about it. It also helps that Night Moves has plenty of twists and turns and has you intrigued from the start, meaning you’re trying to join the dots yourself as Harry investigates, and the films’ screenplay adds to the excitement, leaving you with no clue how the film is going to end. It might be difficult to track the film down on DVD or a streaming service, but as I’ve mentioned you can purchase the Blu-ray, and I highly recommend you do. 7.9/10