Film review: Night Moves

I'm bound to like anything that has Peter Sarsgaard in it, and I wasn't disappointed with Night Moves. An "environmental thriller", Night Moves follows three radical environmentalists who plan to blow up a hydroelectric dam, with devastating consequences.

Josh (Jesse Eisenberg) and Dena (Dakota Fanning) buy a boat and start a long drive to meet up with Harmon (), who will be building a bomb. Once the bomb is built, the three of them set off along a lake in the boat, headed for the dam. After their mission in completed, the three decided they should not speak again. They are successful in activating the bomb, and after a few tense incidents, they head back to their normal lives, only to find out through the news that someone died.

The film is slow paced and subdued, but the acting is outstanding from all three leads and lead up to the bomb was excellent. While there was no "big moment", I felt tense throughout the entire film and felt scared, I just didn't know what of. There was no bad guy trailing them, there was no Government villain trying to thwart them. The characters only had their own inner demons and each other to contend with.

Jesse Eisenberg is a great actor, but he's a lot of bad press about his arrogance in real life, and I've yet to seem him play a character that makes you forget about that bad press, so it makes me wonder if he can only play certain types of characters. His character is withdrawn and quiet, while also the leader of the pack. There is something alienating about him. There's not that much dialogue, but when he starts getting paranoid after the explosion, you start to feel that he is against the wall with no way out.

Dakota Fanning played her part well. She was understated and she was trying to be forgettable, and it paid off. I also enjoyed the chemistry between the actors; they were on the same side but it felt as though there was something stopping them from being close or being friends; it was all business and they needed to their jobs.

I think some people might complain the film was too slow-paced and not exciting enough, but it has a great (I guess) ending and it gets you thinking about what side your on. For those who like alternative, understated thrillers, this is it.

4/5