‎River of Grass (1994) directed by Kelly Reichardt • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

River of Grass

1994 Directed by Kelly Reichardt

Being outlaws was rougher than they thought

Cozy, a dissatisfied housewife, meets Lee at a bar. A drink turns into a home break-in, and a gun shot sends them on the run together, thinking they've committed murder.

Lisa Bowman Larry Fessenden Michael Buscemi Greg Schroeder Santo Fazio Dick Russell Sheila Korsi

76 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Graham Williamson ★★★★½ 6

Whoa, where did this Kelly Reichardt come from? Before we've hit the three-minute mark we've seen zippy Truffaut-style still photo montages, campy, splattery murder scenes recalling John Waters, a bit of nudity and what On the Hour referred to as the corrupting influence of bebop jazz. I imagine at the time this was referred to as Tarantino-esque - it was released in the same year as Pulp Fiction - though I'm increasingly coming to think early Tarantino was just the most complete expression of a set of proudly trashy, transgressive aesthetic and narrative concerns that so many of his generation were into. If he hadn't existed, maybe his position in popular culture would have been taken by Gregg Araki, or…
Review by Sally Jane Black 1

Nineties cool meets Florida redneck grime.

52 project: 91/52
Review by Paul ★★★★

Reichardt's debut has the aesthetic of her later work if it were a bit more anarchist. There's a cheeky sense of humor throughout, and I love the way they're brought out not only in the scenarios themselves, but also in the way she does these hypnotizing static long takes that become humorous while remaining in silence (and, in other cases, alongside narration.) Larry Fessenden was definitely one of the more fascinating character actors in the 90s, and this one sits alongside Habit as his most interesting characterization. It's not perfect, and does leave the viewer with a sense of "and?" at the end, but Reichardt's blueprint was there even in its beginning stages. Only, also a bit surprising in how kitschy and sardonic she was here.
Review by Arsaib Gilbert ★★★★

River of Grass deserves to be mentioned alongside those unique and remarkably auspicious debut features that sprung onto the American independent scene in the early to mid-nineties. A list that includes, but is not limited to, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket, Kevin Smith's Clerks, Lodge Kerrigan's Clean, Shaven and Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight.

Written and directed by Kelly Reichardt (b. 1964), the film is an astutely rendered neo-noir that partakes in the genre's conventions in order to cunningly subvert them. However, unlike a number of other such films, it feels like the genuine, thoughtfully fleshed out article rather than another tired, self-conscious exercise. Reichardt, who was born and raised in Miami, has suitably set her effort…
Review by sydney ★★★★★

the scene where the anti-heroes are passing a joint back and forth with their dirty feet is a good capsule of the funny/sad/grimy/romantic/weird balancing act this is doing, and i don't know how else to put it in words
Review by Disgustipated ★★★★★ 4

This film by Kelly Reichardt is like a proto-mumblecore version of Bandlands. A Goddard's Breathless featuring a pair of bumbling dimwits. You could call this American New Stupid cinema.

This is the story of a woman whose life went too fast and she never quite caught up with it. Surrounded by a husband and three kids, she does cartwheels and daydreams in her yard.

And then there is a man whose life went so slow he is thirty going on fifthteen. He still lives in his grandmother's house and his best mate sneaks in through his bedroom window just to hang out after dark.

The River of Grass as we learn from the woman's almost affectless, slightly dazed narration is…

Recent reviews

Review by Mars ★★★★

the last scene....good for her!!!
Review by Paul ★★★★

Reichardt's debut has the aesthetic of her later work if it were a bit more anarchist. There's a cheeky sense of humor throughout, and I love the way they're brought out not only in the scenarios themselves, but also in the way she does these hypnotizing static long takes that become humorous while remaining in silence (and, in other cases, alongside narration.) Larry Fessenden was definitely one of the more fascinating character actors in the 90s, and this one sits alongside Habit as his most interesting characterization. It's not perfect, and does leave the viewer with a sense of "and?" at the end, but Reichardt's blueprint was there even in its beginning stages. Only, also a bit surprising in how kitschy and sardonic she was here.
Review by Kevin Bertolero ★★★★

I really love how much this reminded me of early Jarmusch.
Review by julian ★★★

this is like reichardt's remake of badlands, which is fine i guess, but it doesn't even come close to what she achieves later in her career. not a bad debut or a bad film, and the ending is great, i'm just not that interested.
Review by Joseph Signa

The way Kelly Reichardt manages to somehow take her time in a 76 minute movie est incroyable
Review by parkerneff ★★★★

- The language, the language he uses, it's just awful.
- That doesn't count.
- Well it should.

The looping systems of concrete and steel that make our lives navigable also make them confinable. The same could be said for our expectations going into stories we feel like we've heard before.

Kelly Reichardt's rebuttal to Badlands is potent and plain. She takes us to places we have been before but nowhere we're expecting. Asks us to live in the moments between or to the side of those we know by heart. It's not at all polished (and that's more handicap than asset here), but the raw materials for her powerful naturalistic style are already on display.
Review by Reina ★½

I liked the beginning but nothing else really.
Review by ryevans123

"I stood near the water, thinking about different things and sometimes catching a glimpse of my life, as if I was thumbing through an old photo album. I saw my dad being young and playing jazz in our Florida room while my mom laid naked on the cold terrazzo floor. I saw Bobby in his black-and-white uniform, and I could almost smell that restaurant stench that had become so much a part of him. And I saw Lee in his blue car nearly runnin' me down, looking so much like a guy on his way to summer."

Soft spot in my heart for movies about troubled couples on the run (See "Wild at Heart" on my top 4 list) and although there ain't much running in this one, they sure are wild at heart.
Review by SuckerPunch4eva ★★★

I almost can’t believe that this is a Kelly Reichardt film. It definitely has a couple of the Reichardt trademarks but it feels so different from the style she has developed in her later work (which I love). This definitely feels of it’s time (like a lot of the popular 90s independent American cinema films). It’s a competent debut film, but being such a fan of the style she went on to develop in her 12 year “break” from feature film directing, this one didn’t really hit me like those later films of hers. I think a big part of it was that I just didn’t care as much for the characters in this one like I cared about Wendy in Wendy and Lucy, Emily in Meek’s Cutoff or the women from Certain Women.

Also what’s with all these directors doing Badlands-esque debut feature films??? You’re never gonna top Terry’s film!