ONE FALSE MOVE (IRS) Originally given a brief theatrical run in 1992 --just long enough to attract the attention of some major critics-- and quickly shuttled to video, director Carl Franklin's "One False Move" is a tight, tense little thriller that's most notable today as a launching pad for the careers of Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton co-scripted (with Tom Epperson) this tale of three drug-dealing killers who cut a bloody path from Los Angeles to the sleepy hamlet of Star City, Arkansas, the hometown of Fantasia (Cynda Williams), the least psychotic of the trio. Keeping the peace in Star City is Dale "Hurricane" Dixon (Paxton), an underworked police chief with dreams of someday being a supercop. Dale wants very badly to impress the two L.A. officers (Jim Metzler and Earl Billings) who've arrived in town, unaware of the fact that his idols ridicule him behind his back. Even though Dale never seems to listen to anyone but himself, when he accidentally eavesdrops on the big-city cops making fun of his ambitions, his face all but cracks from the silent pain surging through it. It's this kind of attention to character that sets "One False Move" apart from the usual crime drama as Thornton and Epperson somehow manage to offset the story's gorier moments --including a savage opening sequence featuring a multiple murder-- with some smart twists. There's a terrific backstory between two of the main characters that turns out to be a crucial plot pivot, and Dale ultimately reveals himself to be much more than just a high-energy hick in a violent, well-handled climax. "One False Move" has too many flaws to qualify as any sort of classic: Franklin routinely oversells the comic relief, and Thornton was a better writer than he was an actor at this point. Paxton's outstanding work is something to see however, Michael Beach is truly scary as Thornton's quietly menacing partner, and Williams shows she's a talent whose potential has not been tapped as effectively in the movies she's done since. "One False Move" is also historically important as a film that helped pave the way for such later independent filmmaking triumphs as Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction": Like those creations, this was a picture that dared to veer outside the boundaries of traditional cinema and to take its audience along for a dizzying ride. James Sanford
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