River of Grass (1994)
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Minimalist director Kelly Reichardt's first film. The theme of her film is: a bored to tears housewife abandons her baby and husband and takes to the open road with an aimless drifter. Their incompetence in crime yields some humorous moments...we then follow this odd couples ineptitude as they go
on the lam.
Reichardt's budding style is apparent with this introspective look at the loan individual, who's lost due to circumstances. Cozy ( Lisa Bowman) is the lost soul. The director's use of voice over narrative gives us a window into Cozy's mind and forms an intimacy that many bigger films lack. Cozy seems real as does the films world of run down motels and dead end towns.
I'd describe Reichard's first film as
'garage band, indie film making'. There's inspiration here but some of the editing choices are odd for her style, with abrupt cuts and inter-cuts that at times make it hard to follow the story.
I didn't care for the secondary story of Cozy's dad, who's a cop who's lost his gun. But his story takes up little time, and it's Cozy's story that's important.
I don't recommend this as a first Kelly Reichardt film to watch. I'd suggest watching some of her newer and more focused films like:
Night Moves or
Wendy and Lucy first.
At 76 minutes this is an easy watch.