A cuckolded L.A. private eye (Gene Hackman), who finds his current
line of work a far cry from his glory days on the gridiron, takes on the case
of a missing teenager (Melanie Griffith) which leads him to the Florida Keys
and ultimately has greater ramifications of plundering, sleaze, and murder.
Made on the heels of Chinatown and
perhaps mirroring that classic a little too closely in terms of plot, Arthur
Penn’s Night Moves works marvelously
both as a detective story and on an existential, psychological plane while
incorporating a snappy, insightful screenplay into an involving story. Hackman
shows his unique ability to play a sensitive tough guy and I can't imagine
anyone else delivering these lines with such conviction and believability,
although Penn doesn't direct the actresses well.
**** out of ****
