In the swampy Florida Everglades, Cozy lives very uncomfortable with her condition as a mother and housewife. Escaping from the monotony that overwhelms her, she goes to a bar and meets Lee, a guy who almost ran her over and who she sees as attractive as dangerous. When they think they shot someone by accident, the pair must go on the road in order to escape from the long arm of the law. Also, the gun belongs to Cozy’s father, a cop with an entertaining tendency to lose his gun who’s also crazy about jazz (the girls is named that way after great drummer Cozy Cole). And it’s Kelly Reichardt herself who dresses up like some kind of jazz musician in this movie, freely performing a variation of the cop film genre with the legendary, harmonic structure of Bonnie & Clyde. The director’s solo reaches its emotional peak with a montage about the recurring gun-losses of Cozy’s dad. Now: in the Reichardt version of this gang that runs away from the law there’s no place for romance, the pair didn’t even commit the crime for which they’re running away, and worst of all, Cozy and Lee can’t even afford their own getaway. –BAFICI
Kelly Reichardt is a screenwriter and film director working within American indie cinema. Her debut film River of Grass was released in 1994. It was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, as well as the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. In 1999, she completed her sophomore feature, Ode, based on Herman Raucher’s novel Ode to Billie Joe. Next, she made two short films, Then a Year, made in 2001, and Travis, which deals with the Iraq War, in 2004. Most of her films are regarded to be part of the minimalist movement in films.
In 2006, she completed Old Joy, based on the short story by Jon Raymond, starring Daniel London and singer-songwriter Will Oldham as two friends who reunite for a camping trip to the Cascades and Bagby Hot Springs, near Portland, Oregon. The film won awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Rotterdam International Film Festival and Sarasota Film Festival. Neil Kopp won the Producer’s Award at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards… read more
Strike the second-rate, half-baked narration and this is a passable, feminist crime film in the tradition of 'Wanda.' As it is, it can't turn its amateur markings into virtues. Reichardt must have a scorched earth approach when it comes to new projects, because she went on to helm some of the noughties' most accomplished efforts in regional film-making. This one not so much.
Also: Remembering actress Martha Stewart and production designer David Doernberg.
Every now and then, Isabelle Huppert is suddenly everywhere and here we are again. She's on the cover of the new Film Comment and she's in
