River of Grass (1994)

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... See full summary »

Director:

Kelly Reichardt

Writers:

Jesse Hartman (story), Kelly Reichardt (screenplay),

Stars:

Larry Fessenden, Dick Russell, Michael Buscemi

5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Larry Fessenden	...	Lee Ray Harold
Dick Russell	...	Jimmy Ryder
Michael Buscemi	...	Doug
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lisa Bowman	...	Cozy
Santo Fazio	...	Det. ortiz
Sheila Korsi	...	Depressed Woman in Bar
Mitch Lewis	...	Guitar player in bar
Steven Lezak	...	Motel Loiterer
Greg Schroeder	...	Bobby

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 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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Plot Keywords:

title directed by female | directorial debut | independent film | title spoken by character

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1995 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Good Machine

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 81 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References ...And God Created Woman (1956)

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Soundtracks

"Boogie With Jay"
Written and Performed by The Country Hams

User Reviews

You can do a lot better

"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.