River of Grass (1994)

• Year: 1994
• Released: 13 Oct 1995
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 6 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110998/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river_of_grass
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/river-of-grass
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Drama
• Runtime: 76 min
• Writer: Jesse Hartman, Kelly Reichardt
• Director: Kelly Reichardt
• Cast: Lisa Donaldson, Larry Fessenden, Dick Russell
• Keywords: woman director, florida, road movie, fugitive, everglades,

	6.6/10
	69/100
	95% – Critics
	55% – Audience

River of Grass Storyline

Near the Everglades, the “river of grass,” lives Cozy (named for her father’s favorite drummer), lonely, in a loveless marriage, ignoring her kids. She fantasizes being a dancer, an acrobat, and a gymnast. One night at a bar she meets Lee. He’s jobless, homeless, and unbeknownst to Cozy, is in possession of her father’s handgun. Dad’s a cop and lost the gun chasing a robber. Cozy and Lee climb a fence to swim in a pool. Playing around with the gun, they think they kill the pool’s owner, so they go on the lam. An odd partnership develops even though they’re short on ideas. But how can they escape their barren lot if they don’t even have a quarter for the road toll?

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River of Grass Movie Reviews

“After all,murder was thicker than marriage.”

Having heard about the genre for years,I was introduced to Mumblecore by family friend Guy Morgan (who passed away suddenly in March 2019,age 46) with the outstanding Wendy and Lucy (2008-also reviewed.) Gathering up titles for a “Auteurs in ’94” viewing week,I was excited to find Reichardt’s debut as being listed from ’94,which led to me cutting the crass.

View on the film:

Laying out the cards of Cozy’s life on the screen in a opening photographs/ narration montage, co-writer/(with Jesse Hartman) directing auteur Kelly Reichardt displays a remarkable procession on the grounded themes which would span her future credits. Filmed in the part of Florida Reichardt grew up in on a mix of film, 8MM and in 4:3 aspect ratio, Reichardt & cinematographer Jim Denault drives a early intimate Mumblecore, rural atmosphere, made up of fragmented jump-cuts and jagged panning shots missing the cut-off points in conversations, which brings a in the moment closeness to the up close and personal (such as Reichardt visibly holding the camera in the back of the car during Lee and Cozy’s drive, creating the impression of eavesdropping on their arguments.

Setting out a path for future recurring themes on Cozy and Lee’s lovers on the run, the screenplay by Reichardt and Hartman brilliantly holds a unreliability over the couple on their certainties of having committed murders. Draining the burning passions and closure usually offered in the Lovers on the Run/Road Movie genres, the writers give a grittiness to the dialogue,that increasingly covers the dead-ends the couple encounter in their broken attempts to change lanes on the roads and in their lives (a recurring theme for Reichardt.)

Ambitious but inept

In the Everglades a young couple enter into a life of crime almost by accident.

First of all, I must give this film credit for its ambition – it aims to have a sense of style, a kind of steamy, sleazy noirish air. The story, though familiar, is acceptable, the script is OK, and the majority of the technical elements are discharged adequately.

Unfortunately, it is denied the breath of life by that bane of the low budget indie movie, bad acting. And some – most – of the acting here is shockingly bad. And the more you watch, the more aware you are of how bad it is, and that in turn impacts on the script. It isn’t bad, but the acting makes it sound bad.

No Direction Home

RIVER OF GRASS is a quintessential example of Slacker film making. The script is sharp and well written with a most effective use of ‘voice over’. The narrative is portrayed by a rag-bag cast of characters who could have have fit right in on any 1980’s Jim Jarmusch film. Kelly Reichardt, the writer/director, has a sure feel for existential dialog and plot. The story involves a handgun which is lost by a detective, and inadvertently winds up in the possession of his aimless ’30 something’ daughter, Cozy. She and a barroom pickup participate in an absurd and incongruous shooting, and, in a panic, decide to hit the highway. Devoid of direction or purpose, the protagonists stumble and fumble in a car chase movie where they can’t seem to get out of PARK. When they finally make it to the interstate, they are turned around by a trooper because they lack a quarter to pay the toll. Instead of a sensational interaction with the cops, they are more or less ignored. The film was shot on seemingly Third World locations near the Florida Everglades, and even the colors seem washed out and weary which adds to the cheerless experience of the movie. RIVER OF GRASS is an incisive bit of Independent film-making which might be described as ‘THELMA AND LOUISE for abject losers’. This is truly a gem in the rough.