Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Carl Franklin
Starring: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Cynda Williams, Michael Beach, Jim Metzler
From: IRS Media
This will be the first of several 90's movies I'll be watching in the upcoming days; I am sure that this will be the one which has the least amount of total ratings. It played on TCM last night as part of a deal done each Wednesday night in July where they played independent black cinema. It's a film I've known of for awhile but never have seen; as I enjoyed director Carl Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress and I was happy to check out something starring both Bill Paxton & Billy Bob Thornton (the second movie in a role featuring him for me)... and the plot sounded appealing to boot.
I recently complained about villains in modern movies—now this movie has some villains worth remembering. Thornton (a co-writer of the script) is more the brute type, a dimwitted yet lethal criminal. Michael Beach has a genius-level IQ and is far more Machiavellian yet no less lethal. Cynda Williams plays Thornton's girl-for a short amount of time she was one of the SIX women who have been married to Billy Bob-who is dragged into the mess yet she isn't an unwilling participant. In the opening scenes it is clearly established how deadly that trio is and their brutal actions result in some gruesome murders in LA. They flee to Arkansas, right to the town where good old boy Paxton is sheriff.
It may sound cliché that two cops from Los Angeles come to Arkansas for the apprehension and there is a culture clash but the movie is far more nuanced than that. One False Move makes some interesting moves when it comes to the story-including a hard pivot in the final act-and it all works in this darker than expected tale. I don't want to give away spoilers but Paxton along with Williams were the most impressive in terms of acting/performance-you'll have to watch the film to find out why. This is more serious and addresses such serious topics as racism and drugs in an unflinching fashion in the framework of a Southern Gothic melodrama. Mix in some incredibly tense scenes and this movie is a gem.
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