![]() ![]() Seems Fantasia and Ray's connection to Star City led the police to check out the place, and Dale confirms that he knows Fantasia and her family. His country twang, pubescent enthusiasm, and nonstop chatter are a source of derisive amusement for the two slick Los Angeles-based detectives who arrive in town to track down the perpetrators of the cross-country murder spree. The place is patrolled by a single lawman, Sheriff Dale "Hurricane" Dixon, whose high energy and blustery, good old boy persona cover a burning desire for more challenging police work. Star City is a midwesterner's dream: cornfields, cows, farmhouses, dusty roads, and tons of local country charm. The matter-of-fact violence of this opening is so gruesome that it may be difficult for some viewers to get past. Ray tells Fantasia to check the back rooms for stragglers, and when she finds a young boy hiding in a closet, she spares him by not telling the men. The film starts as the three enter a home and the two men methodically menace then murder everyone in the house. drug dealers, then re-sell the drugs to one of Ray's contacts in Houston. ![]() Trigger-happy thug Ray Malcolm (Thornton), his girlfriend Fantasia ( Cynda Williams, Thornton's real-life wife at the time) and Ray's knife-wielding partner Pluto (Beach) decide to rip off drugs and cash from some L.A. Director Franklin - who also helmed Devil in a Blue Dress - is masterful at weaving together all the threads. But it is his thorough knowledge of the town's history as well as his own secret that leads to the apprehension of the criminals. ![]() The conflict represented here is not white against black, but between the self-satisfied LA detectives who view the Star City, Arkansas, sheriff as a goofy, uninformed hick. The action turns on the characters' personalities themselves and the friction between big city slickers and country folk. In my estimation, One False Move is noteworthy in depicting black and white characters interacting in a natural way, where the drama does not stem entirely from racial tension. The acting he does in this role is truly accomplished. The film also provides a great character role for the late Bill Paxton as the hail-fellow-well-met small town lawman who is smarter than he looks. But the character of Pluto, the cold blooded, intense and intellectual preppy killer, represented a new style of black villain. This was not the first time we see actor Michael Beach, who'd been in Lean on Me in 1989 and made his debut in End of the Line in 1987. The Arkansas native had already developed his Sling Blade character on the stage, but Sling Blade came to the screen in 1996. This is the first time I ever saw Thornton, who co-wrote the screenplay, in a major motion picture. What makes the film so compelling is its characterizations and its beats, the way it starts out as a grim crime nail-biter, downshifts into clash-of-culture humor, and then transforms into a heartrending tragedy - all without resorting to melodrama or pathos. At the same time, it's a clear-eyed look at how quaint and idyllic small-town life can seem deceptively simple, and a probing examination of human nature and how everyone has a fatal flaw. As it turned out, One False Move is a taut and complex film about a crew of murderous thieves on the run. I'd seen some advance reviews and ads for One False Move I had never heard of director Carl Franklin, nor of Billy Bob Thornton, but I had seen some of Bill Paxton's work, and I was curious about a film that had a woman of color as one of the main characters in a Southern crime thriller. Way back in the early '90s, I was in NYC. My good friend Gil Robertson's African American Film Critics Association screened director Carl Franklin's O ne False Move in Los Angeles on April 29th, followed with a Q & A with the director. Breaking into the mainstream is always the ultimate goal.Starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Beach, Cynda Williams Over the years One False Move has developed a more beat driven R&B/indie Pop sound with flashes of influences of the past. At conception OFM was, and remains at its core a punk/grunge fusion band. One False Move has been around since 2006 in the CNY music scene. ![]()
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