River of Grass

In a town on the edge of the Everglades in Florida, Cozy, married and bored, walks out of her house. Lee, whom she meets in a bar, has a stolen pistol. One night they think they have accidentally shot someone and run. But they have nowhere to go, no money, and cannot even get past the highway toll. The film is not interested in crime. It is interested in the inability to leave: all its tension comes from two people who dream of escape and cannot get a step past the town line. The director's own description fits exactly: a road movie without the road, a love story without the love, a crime story without the crime. The form is cheap and flat: 16mm, static shots, motel rooms, parking lots and the flatness of Florida. Cozy's voiceover carries the narration. It is Kelly Reichardt's first feature. It screened at Sundance and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and three Independent Spirit Awards. Reichardt did not make another feature for twelve years. Larry Fessenden plays Lee; he is himself a director of independent horror. Who it is for: viewers curious about nineties American independents and Reichardt's origin. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for events. The film deliberately arrives nowhere and makes the audience feel it.