Customer Reviews

One False Move

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This review refers to DVD edtion(Columbia Tri-Star) of "One False Move".....

"One False Move" is one truely good thriller. Directed by Carl Franklin, who has a knack for bringing us some great noir("Devil In A Blue Dress"), and really engages us in the story and the characters.

Ray,Pluto and Fantasia are on the lam. They are drug dealers who just committed the most horrific murders and are heading from L.A. to a smalltown in Arkansas. The law is hot on their trail and notifies Chief Dale "Hurricane" Dixon of Star City to be on the look out for these big time criminals. Dixon is a big fan of the L.A.P.D. and is eager to get in on this big case and apprehend these ruthless thugs. But does he really know what he's getting himself in for...as his wife says "He watches TV..I read non-fiction". And..there's more...Fantasia brings with her to this small town a big secret that has our hero "Hurricane" personally involved as well.

The cast is fabulous. Billy Bob Thornton and Cynda Williams play Ray and Fantasia, the Bonnie and Clyde type lovers on the run. Michael Beach is their co-hort.He is educated, has an IQ of 150, and makes "Jaws" look like the family pet! And Bill Paxton is simply outstanding as Chief Dixon, the small town cop with big ideals. The music score is as chilling as the story and the screenplay(Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson) will have you hanging on every word.

The film was nominated for and won several international awards,including an "Independent Spirit Award" for Carl Franklin for Best Director, and an "International Fantasy Film Award" for Thornton and Epperson for Best Screenplay.

The picture presented on this DVD is excellent. It has the choice of anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1 which is the intended ratio, or full screeen format. The colors and clarity were very good. The sound was good in DD 2.0, all sounds were distinguisable, but I had to keep turning it up and down throughout the movie, as the dialouge seemed to get higher and lower at times.(this film is begging for 5.1). There is commentary by Director Carl Franklin which may be viewed during the film if you choose.The problem with this is that you can not go in and out of the commentary without turning the DVD off and on. There is no "Resume Film", you would have to go to the scene selection to pick up where you left off, if you only wanted to hear certain portions of the commentary. The Tech info here and the "Special Features" listed on the case state that there are subtitles in Spanish and French. If you are needing these..fahget about it...the "Spanish" subtitles come up in English and I could not find the French subtitles anywhere. It may be viewed in Spanish though.

Four stars for the package....a terriffic and chilling story,great transfer to DVD, but let's fix up those subtitles for those who may need them Columbia....

also recommended;
Just Cause- another good thriller
Primary Colors- great cast including Billy Bob
Stars Fell on Henrietta [VHS](early Billy bob)

Thanks and enjoy...Laurie

"One False Move" is a lost classic that is great films on many levels, acting, screenplay, direction, mood, etc. But what makes it really special is its authenticity. In the middle of the film there is a scene of a highway patrolman pulling over a carload of suspects that could be a training film at any police academy. The patrolman does everything right, until he makes one minor but ultimately deadly mistake. The violent scenes are quick and realistic, like a punch to the gut. Bill Paxton as the erstwhile motormouth "hero" and Billy Bob Thorton as the high Strung "villian" turn in career making performances. Even the small southern town that serves as a backdrop for the movie feels totally authentic. Anyone who enjoyed "Sling Blade" or "A Simple Plan" will love this movie.

One of the first movies of director Carl Franklin ONE FALSE MOVE has been co-written by Billy Bob Thornton who plays the character of Ray in this above-average film noir. Ray and his companion, the psychotic Pluto, leave L.A. with seven corpses behind them. Two L.A. policemen will wait for them in Arkansas.

These two pairs form strange symmetrical couples. Between them, Bill Paxton and Cynda Williams are not only what they appear to be, they have a common history. If I borrow Carl Franklin's cinematographical vocabulary, they are not white nor black, they are grey.

ONE FALSE MOVE is extremely well written and you will have a lot of pleasure to discover how Franklin and Thornton have played with the theme of the black and white antagonism.

As bonus features, a commentary by Carl Franklin and two trailers ( the second one being THE DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS trailer). No French subtitles as falsely noted on the jacket.

A DVD to discover.

i saw OFM when it first came out, over ten years back. it was on cable the other day. it still keeps me glued to the set. bill paxton, billy bob thornton, michael beach....great work. too bad this one didn't get more media and a larger audience.

One False Move is one of those great movies that a lot of people just do not seem to know about. The first 10 minutes of the film will be difficult to sit through for those with weak stomachs, not because it is gory, but because of the sheer cruelty inflicted by the villains Ray and Pluto. Cynda Williams is good as Fantasia, an attractive and personable young woman with a vulnerable exterior that conceals her true self. Bill Paxton is also good as Hurricane Dale Dixon, the small town sheriff who longs to work in the big city carrying a secret of his own. The two LA detectives who travel to Arkansas to work with Hurricane are played by relatively unknown actors but handle their roles well. Billy Bob Thornton looks a lot different with long hair and a heavier build. The tension that builds up towards the end of the film is so palpable that your heart will be pounding through your chest, accented by the sounds of the harmonica playing man at the side of the road. I strongly recommend this movie.

This cult favorite degenerate cocaine crime caper starts out in what looks like South Central L.A and ends up in rural Arkansas. Directed by Carl Franklin from a script by Billy Bob Thornton, and starring Thornton, Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, and Michael Beach, it begins with bloody bodies on the floor and ends with bloody bodies on the ground. There is some sprightly dialogue en route, some sharp editing, fine acting all around, and the dramatic tension is well maintained. We are intrigued by the clash of personalities and the degenerate hijinks. However, after awhile I began to feel that if they light up one more cigarette I will be forced to rip the pack from their hands, tear the stogies into shreds, and feed the debris to them with a large spoon. Also the standard quota of one thousand improvisations on the f-word was exceeded here. I am therefore condemning director Carl Franklin to an absurdist nightmare in which he dreams of getting scripts in the mail in which the dialogue for all characters consists of just that one word in its various grammatical forms, repeated for one hundred and twenty pages.

Paxton plays a small town sheriff in awe of the cops from the big city who is nonetheless intent on proving his manhood. (One of the cops, by the way, in a bit of prescient genius, looks a whole lot like former L.A. cop Mark Fuhrman before he got all those bags under his eyes.) Thornton is a kind of murderous cocaine-addled urban animal in a long greasy pigtail whose life has neither direction, purpose nor insight. Williams, whose primal sexiness will keep your eyes open even if it's two a.m., plays a chocolate strawberry who can kill when she has to. Beach is an icy cold-blooded knife murderer who spends his off-duty hours worshiping his well-muscled body and practicing squeaky-clean living. The familiar Billy Bob Thornton fascination with things country contrasted with things city is explored here and reminds us a little of A Simple Plan (1998) in which he also teamed up with Bill Paxton. This genre, which I might call "Grunge City gore," was morphed into an art form during the eighties and nineties in films from, e.g., Coen and Coen, Blood Simple (1984), David Lynch, Wild at Heart (1990), Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs (1992), Oliver Stone, Natural Born Killers (1994), and others. This is actually one of the better ones, but I think I need a break. Maybe a nice Disney favorite or something with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks...or even something with Bette Midler and Whoopie Goldberg.

Then again, maybe NOT.

Incidentally, the reason all these films made especially during the late eighties and early nineties contain some much blood and guts and cigarette smoke is (1) Sex had become somewhat taboo because of the rise of AIDS, and so Hollywood switched to violence, and (2) The tobacco companies fronted money for films that promised to have a whole lot of puffing going on. Hopefully we are living in more enlightened times.

Before Billy Bob Thornton was winning Oscars and enjoying his well deserved fame, he starred in a little film-noir (which he co-wrote) about three ruthless drug-dealers/killers and the small town Arkansas cop determined to send them all straight to hell. It all starts in Los Angelels with an unpleasent but grimly realistic triple homicide and we all get to see Thornton's not so sweet side (which we saw in Sling Blade). The three villains are made up of a white trash sociopath, his buddy Pluto, and girlfriend Fantasia. After the murder, which was also a drug heist, the unhappy three plan to head to Chicago where they can sell the goods. On the way, they plan to make a quick stop by Ray and Fantasia's hometown of Star City, Arkansas so that Fantasia can pay a visit to her family and young son. Little do they know that waiting for them in Star City is Sheriff Dale "Hurricane" Dixon, an overly enthusiastic small town sheriff who is hoping to gain recognition from the big boys out in L.A. Since evidence was left in L.A. from the previously mentioned murders, the L.A.P.D now have a good guess on where the criminals are headed next so two of LA's finest are also being sent down to help the "Hurricane" and I will pretty much leave off there in case you haven't seen this and are planning on it. There are plenty of unexpected surprises left and it is definitely worth checking out.

One False Move is one of the most graphic and spine tingling action mystery movies I have seen in a long time. There are many memorable scenes which give goose bumps to any normal viewer. Astounding performances where given by the dismal villains (Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Beach, and Cynda Williams) and the high spirited sheriff (Bill Paxton). This all-star team of actors only adds to the film. The only thing that I could think about was what could possibly happen next. It all begins in LA and later ends up in a back roads city in Arkansas, untouched by true cold blooded criminals. As the viewer you are shown what happens when a couple and their intelligent, but cruel partner, get greedy and commit several horrific killings. Unable to run and hide the three killers have to commit one murder after the next to try and save themselves. What started out as a simple agreement between the three, ended up putting one against the other to save their own skin. Ironically Fantasha, Ray's girl and Pluto's lose end, has a hidden secret with the quick acting sheriff of Star City. Unfortunately for them Hurricane, the sheriff of Star City, remembers Fantasha when he sees a picture from a convenient store security camera. See what happens when the LA police team up with Hurricane to bring these three killers to justice. I strongly recommend this movie for those of you tired of seeing the same old Hollywood movie, and seeking some adventure.

Like most people, I saw this first on cable. About the same time, I saw Sean Penn's directorial debut, "The Indian Runner". I had a great respect for Independent films, like, forever, and "One False Move" is among the best. Carl Franklin is to be commended for putting the script (Billy Bob & Tom Epperson) to film in a concise fashion. I don't agree with previous reviewers who thought it needed more ground. This is indeed an original. Bill Paxton, in his first lead role, is excellent, and hasn't been as good since (though I liked his smarmy performance in "True Lies") and the wonderful Cynda Williams won awards for her performance as Fantasia/Lila. The film score is legendary...indeed, Peter Haycock & Derek Holt wrote a score that has been used in a whole bunch of cheesy films of the 90's; I don't really know if it was original for this one, but the use of the music by Terry Plumeri was effective and haunting. Billy Bob was a fine psychotic, and the most frightening performance of all came from Michael Beach as Pluto, never breaking a sweat as he slit a throat. Paxton really carries the film, along with Ms. Williams; you really want these people to survive. Life might be like that; a great exposition of good and evil, and delivered in fine fashion by the wonderful Carl Franklin.

This film almost wound up on direct to video were it not for 2 people or critics--Siskel & Ebert!! Former actor Carl Franklin had already made one film for Roger Corman before he did this one and he had to mortgage his home to get credit to make this film--but it turned out to be a winner in more ways than one. For starters, it pushed former Cameron regular, Bill Paxton, to leading man status and Billy Bob Thornton to write another Southern classic, "Sling Blade". This proves that you don't need a lotta money to have a good film, just good writing!! And Cyndi Williams is a fox and excellent in the final confrontation scene with Paxton. Recommended for lovers of noir and Southern tales!!