At first glance, "One False Move" would seem to be just one more "cops vs. psycho cocaine killers" movie, but it's actually quite a bit more than that. It shows us what we first take as stereotypes, then throws them back at us: clean-cut, good-looking, intelligent (black) Pluto (Michael Beach) and beady-eyed, slovenly, foul-mouthed, slack-jawed trailer-trash (white) Ray Malcolm (Billy Bob Thornton) are partnered with beautiful black call girl Phantasia (Cynda Williams) in a rip-off of some Hollywood coke dealers. The robbery turns into a horrific massacre--instigated by Pluto, who, it turns out, is a heartless, remorseless serial killer whose few pleasures in life include slicing up his victims with a knife. And, as it also turns out, Phantasia isn't Pluto's girlfriend, as would seem logical, but she's with Malcolm, who looks and acts like he should be on a recruiting poster for the Ku Klux Klan--and who, for all his outward bluster, tough talk and murderous appearance, is actually the weaker of the two men by far, and almost totally under the thumb of the icy, cold-blooded Pluto, of whom he appears (with good reason) to be terrified.

The L.A. police eventually discover the trio's identities, and their investigation leads them to believe that the killers are headed for an Arkansas backwater called Star City, so they send two homicide detectives there to help the local sheriff apprehend them. In this film, though, even the two "sophisticated", big-city cops aren't exactly what they seem, either; one is an easygoing, slow-talking, overweight black guy, the other is a good-looking, stereotypical "Joe Friday" type white guy who, as it turns out, has his own demons to deal with. Even the Star City sheriff, a young, garrulous "bubba" (Bill Paxton, in a first-rate job) excited by the prospect of doing some "real" police work with some "real" big-city cops, turns out to have more of an interest in this case than just a purely law enforcement one.

This is a crackerjack movie, with no big stars but chock full of good, solid character actors, an inventive, well written script (by Thornton) and direction by Carl Franklin that brings to mind the best of Don Siegel, Phil Karlson, Joseph H. Lewis and other noir icons of the '40s and '50s. A clever, sharp, tough (it does contain some quite graphic violence) and twisted--in the best sense of the word--thriller from start to finish. Don't miss it.

I watched this film in 1991 and I still think about it frequently. It has become a standard to compare other films. The violence at the beginning made me uncomfortable, and I almost turned it off. I am glad that I didn't, because I would have missed one of the best films of the decade. The movie's pace and tone are perfectly natural - not artificial in any way. I like the scene in the diner best. The two LA cops are joking with each other about the backward local sheriff (Paxton), and they didn't know he was standing there. The awkwardness of the moment encapsulated the film.

I think One False Move, Fargo, and The Sweet Herafter are a great trilogy of movie making at its best. All set in small - real towns with real people.

This modern film noir pits three violent criminals on the run from a violent drug rip-off against two LA cops aided by a rural sheriff. The trio of bad-guy consists of a white-trash loser (Thornton), his African-American girlfriend (Williams), and their high-IQ, sociopath friend (Beach) also black. After committing multiple murders in California they high-tail to Thornton's and Williams' hometown of Star, Arkansas to lay-low. Their journey across the backroads of Texas is fraught with danger, (it's not like they don't stand out) and unbeknownst to them, the cops are waiting....

Very well done without the "look at me I'm so realistic" dialogue too often found in this much copied genre. One of the best of its kind, well worth the rental.