River of Grass (1994) User Reviews

Indie budget update of 'Badlands'

[tim-764-291856 · 7/10 · 29 April 2012]

Like in Terrence Mallick's brilliant 1973 'Badlands', we have two, desperate, bored and unfulfilled young people here, who aimlessly - and pointlessly - fall into crime and then are then perpetually trying to avoid the repercussions from then on.

Charismatically, our two protagonists can't hold a candle to Charlie Sheen and Sissy Spacek of Badlands but as believable, everyday folk, Lisa Bowman and Larry Fessenden, as Cozy (a day-dreaming young woman named after her cop father's favourite jazz drummer) and Lee Ray, an unpredictable and moody son-of-a-gun who you could describe as having a poor attitude to both life and to others, they're fine.

Director Kelly Reichart's movie is at times both dreamy and at others more immediate. Though, if you're after blood-splattering action, you might be disappointed as this is more a character piece. Interesting camera angles add to the quite indie, fly-on-the-wall photography and we are introduced to some of the less glamorous and non-touristy parts of Florida. The title refers to the Native American name given to the stretch of swamplands near the Everglades.

A smattering of old jazz records provide the only soundtrack.

River of Grass says nothing new and covers no new ground but as a contemporary alternative to the Bonnie & Clyde and Natural Born Killers genre, that I and many others find both enthralling and intriguing, then this is a worthwhile, if minor, addition. I saw it on Film 4.

Cracking thriller from the Indi market.

[RatedVforVinny · 8/10 · 1 December 2019]

You get nice little movies such as this surfacing from the U.S independent film industry, sandwiched between two (or three) horrid ones. The 'River of Grass', sort of ambles and drifts along in an endearing 'Badlands' fashion and almost at times without much purpose at all. Perfect though for telling the tale of two misfits thrown together after a single moment of madness. Fessenden is back the frame.

a sign of things to come, if less than the sum of its parts

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 29 January 2016]

River of Grass is a 'first-movie' (practically in quotes to make the distinction) not just in the fact that it is for Kelly Reichardt, but in tone too: the film is a loose, vaguely noir-ish tale with a more low-key beat and looking forward for when the director really takes a hold of that "mumblecore" thing years later as it's about a mother of two and a 2nd-tier Jack Nicholson character think they've accidentally killed someone and they go on the run... not really(?)

It's like the American remake of Breathless I might've wanted instead of the weak one with Richard Gere. It's a little too short to be more than a little festival experiment, but it has some good jazz, some good acting, a few genuinely weird and funny moments (some with a quirky Orthodox Jew who laughs a lot), and a final twist that seems needlessly pessimistic. I want to emphasize if you're a Reichardt fan and come to this in retrospect that it's not a bad debut, and not a great one either, though it does speak to her as having more of a sense of humor than her other films might lead one to believe.

You can do a lot better

[postmanwhoalwaysringstwice · 1 June 2003]

"River of Grass" was a non-event film with a nice visual style that reminded me of something between "Stranger Than Paradise" and "Wild at Heart". Yes, there's a big window in there, but that's what makes this film interesting. I don't think it was particularly good and it was often boring, but it really showed potential. I felt it had a few things to say philosophically and its dark comedic version of an often overdone genre was fine, but there was something lacking. Since I know a little bit of the history of this one, I would like to give it some credit, because I think what was missing was funding to ensure it to be a tight AND well-crafted film. Instead it's super short, but paced like it's twice as long.

Going nowhere special

[ted-mcwhirter · 7/10 · 8 September 2014]

As a counterpoint to Thelma and Louise and Badlands, this is the unromanticised, pathetic cry for attention and escape. Two anonymous casualties of society unintentionally crash and burn their way through the suburban sprawl of the Florida wetlands, an ecological miracle now supposedly re-claimed for twentieth century progress. Except their crashing and burning barely gets them out of their home state such is their ineptitude and powerlessness. Even with a real and yet symbolic gun they still can't capture that dream; inept burglaries, and an accidental shooting all they can muster. In the city they'd descend into an underworld of disease and drugs but in the wide recovered flats of the Everglades there isn't a subculture they can lose themselves in. Kelly Reichardt's minimal style, long takes and static camera just emphasises their hopelessness. There's no cathartic cliff to drive off at the end just a slow moving highway going nowhere special.

Cinema Omnivore - River of Grass (1994) 6.9/10

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 20 December 2021]

"But Reichardt sets out to be a contrarian, RIVER OF GRASS - whose title is a nickname of Everglades, the obverse of the sun-drenched, littoral Florida - is bent on pinpointing the ennui and doom embroiling those who feel trapped, unable to find meaning in their existence. No passion is consumed between Cozy and Lee (projecting a sharp suspicion of Lee's impotence), their high-tailing plan is thwarted simply because they cannot pay the turnpike toll (how ironic?), and the shooting accident turns out to be non-fatal. Cozy and Lee is a mismatched pair tethered together under false circumstances and to conclude the movie, Reichardt takes out Cozy's frustration with a bang, the only time a coup de théâtre comes up in the trinity, unexpected but resounding, it is also Reichardt giving a piece of her feminist mind to the white-trash primitivity. RIVER OF GRASS adumbrates her potentiality and sensibility (like the way she elicits racial injustice and defies racial stereotype, for example) as a filmmaker with a difference, unfortunately she is way ahead of her time."

read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.

No Direction Home

[valis1949 · 9/10 · 22 March 2009]

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.

Minor but with a kind of goofy charm.

[MOscarbradley · 5/10 · 2 February 2020]

Kelly Reichardt's "River of Grass" may borrow more than liberally from early Terrence Malick but is none the worse for it. It's a shaggy dog story told with some humour and is certainly a lot less sonorous than the films that followed. It may be a fairly minor work, (we're not talking "Badlands" here, even with the Sissy Spacek like narration), but it has a goofy charm despite the ropey, amateurish performances and at 76 minutes is pleasantly short. It also makes good use of its depressingly bland Florida locations. If it doesn't mark Reichardt out as a major talent it shows that she was at least worth watching.

"After all,murder was thicker than marriage."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 10/10 · 19 October 2019]

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

[neil-476 · 5/10 · 3 September 2014]

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.