James Woods!

Hackman is realistic as the detective whose own life is unraveling and Penn and Sharp tweaked the detective convention with Harry being an ultimately ineffectual hero. Underrated when released and worth a view.

Superb detective story, imagine making Hackman's Harry Caul from THE CONVERSATION the lead in CHINATOWN and you would have this movie, which seems inspired by both films, but strikes off in it's own direction and becomes a haunting meditation on the detective genre. Hackman proves why he was a reigning symbol of 70s cool, and an eclectic cast (including two young scene stealers James Woods and Melanie Griffith) makes the film snappy and lively. A great, sorely underrated gem of 70s US cinema.

Allusions to _The Maltese Falcon_ and Eric Rohmer are made. This is apropos, as this movie is a mostly successful fusion of the old-school private-eye film and the '70s movies that weren't anywhere nearly as interested in narrative as they were in character study. For a while this picture looks like it's going to abandon plot altogether, then it just moseys on over back to it in a most becoming fashion

Despite being a serious film, this nonetheless predates the kind of films ushered in by Quentin Tarantino, playful in its mood before the turn of the plot and enriched in movie culture and references. After a while it's revealed to be a very flimsy neo-noir, one which shows the talents of Gene Hackman as an actor, but cannot sustain itself as something that lingers in the mind afterwards both in its style or ideas.

While it invites comparisons to plenty of other movies, Night Moves really stands out on it's own thanks to a great script and an excellent performance by Gene Hackman.

This movie is very, very 70's which if you ask me, is a great thing. It does the downbeat, cynical neo-noir thing quite well, with Gene Hackman making a great private eye and James Woods and Melanie Griffith filling in the supporting pieces. The plot is confusing, but the dialogue is snappy and the character is studied and if that is your thing, there's a lot to love here. Also, pretty sure it was made before Chinatown and The Conversation, which is interesting.

With plot being downplayed in favor of mood and character, this is very much a product of the 70s - but it kept my attention. Hackman is completely awesome.

The story isn't particularly well-written and it plods along. Hackman does his best to salvage an absolutely ordinary neo-noir.

#957

Meandering unclear plot. Weird dialogue. A striking very young Melanie..

# 840

This movie has a lot of subtleties and layers to it, and I'd advise careful viewing if you have to 'get' the movie. There are some things which still wouldn't make sense, but I've been told they aren't supposed to.

874

Ably directed and played, but the story is sort of weak. Definitely inferior to some of the other 70s neo-noir stuff.

Delivers everything you'd expect from a 70's neo-noir; Intrigue, murder, sex and a good dose of troubled personal relationships. It's grim, effective and gripping, and even though it doesn't feel especially original it's pretty damn good.

900

A fine detective film, well-directed. Hackman is at his best.

Terrific dialogue and good acting; a kind of film-noir character study and a good reminder that Gene Hackman is a solid actor.

A great example of what 70's cinema did right--not only is this a surprisingly twisted mystery, but it also fills out the main characters wonderfully. In fact, it kept me so busy with drama that I kept forgetting about the plot and each development seemed super-exciting. And after all that, a real shocker ending. The titular metaphor is also awesome, and just insubstantial enough to warrant contemplation throughout the film.

god damn, they hardly ever make movies like this anymore, and i really fucking wish they did

A neo-noir that seems to be riding the coattails of Chinatown, about a private detective in over his head. Penn's film isn't as satisfying as Polanski's, but it has a couple of interesting nuances. It doesn't really come together until the end. And a little too heavy on the sexual liberation angle, perhaps. But Gene Hackman is always a pleasure to watch, I ought to track down more of his work that I haven't seen yet.