Boy, this film takes me back to the jerkwater Arkansas town where I spent several years of my youth. Bill Paxton (Aliens, True Lies, "Big Love") is spot on as a cracker sheriff who, in his words, hasn't drawn his gun in six years on the job. Well, he drew his gun seven years ago and it has now come back to haunt him and put him in a position that could get him killed.

Billy Bob Thornton (A Simple Plan, Sling Blade, Astronaut Farmer),Arkansas born himself, co-wrote and starred in this film and really pulls off the psycho robber with such perfection that I really cannot understand how a supposedly intelligent guy like "Pluto" (Michael Beach - Short Cuts, "Third Watch," "ER") could hook up with him, especially since they spent two years in jail after the last job. Joining the duo, was Cynda Williams (Mo' Better Blues) in her second film, as Fantasia/Lila. She did a super job.

As the trio heads to Houston from L.A. the body count rises and the Sheriff is put into a position where he has to act alone. False moves throughout the film just add to the tension and excitement.

SPOILERS.

This genre piece excels. Everything seems to click and work together well. The story isn't very complicated. Three killers -- Billy Bob Thornton or whatever his three names are, Williams, and Beach -- drive from LA to Star City, Arkansas, where two LA detectives (Metzler and Billings) and a local chief of police (Paxton) await them. There are some violent incidents along the way and a final shootout in which people get pretty much what they deserve.

There is one hole in the plot. Towards the end, Paxton is holding Williams captive and expecting a visit from the two unsuspecting murderers. He wants to call for help but Williams says she won't cooperate if he does. When she finally answers the phone and tells the miscreants that everything is kosher, come ahead, Paxton has ten minutes to call his office in Star City and have all his deputies rush out to his aid -- but he doesn't. It's a small point and the pace at this point is so up-tempo that it's overlooked.

I'm describing it as intelligent because Frankin, the director, has handled the material very well. The local color, and local culture, of small-town Arkansas is effectively captured. None of the characters is overdrawn. Nothing is in-your-face obvious. The violence is over quickly and no more gory than necessary. And the violence is not used as a selling point -- not done in slow motion or with multiple squibs exploding everywhere. There are no car chases and no explosions. Instead there are characters that are at least half-way believable as are the interactions between them. The two LA detectives make fun of the hick police chief, laughing at his intention to apply for a job with the LAPD, not knowing that he's overhearing them. They just chuckle at the thought, and Billings says, "Can you imagine him hanging around Parker Center?" The other LA detective, Metzler, has a bland face and unimposing presence (he looks a bit like Fuhrman from the O.J. Simpson case) but he turns in a fine performance. Some of the minor touches are most delicate. Paxton's wife is trying to get Billings to talk her husband out of his fantasies about being a big-city policeman. "You know him," she says, "He watches TV. I read non-fiction." (I read non-fiction. That's good writing. By Bobby Jim Thornton, too.)

In fact, everyone is good, even the usually wooden Paxton. Billy Joe Thornton -- or Clarence Earl Thornton, or Edgar Allan Thornton, or Oliver Wendell Thornton, or whatever his names are -- is outstanding as an impulsive weak killer. The performance is the more impressive if you know what a good-natured, easy-going guy he is off the screen. Beach is just fine as the college-educated guy with an IQ of 150 who never laughs or smiles behind his accountant-type eyeglasses but who slaughters helpless people dispassionately with a knife, as if they were nothing more than trussed-up swine. The only word to describe the sleepy eyed Cynda Williams is yummy. She's first-rate in this film, switching back and forth between black locutions and those one might expect in a white middle-class family in the San Fernando Valley.

Do catch this one if you have the chance.

In Los Angeles, after a violent drug rip-off, the Los Angeles Police Department detectives find the identity of the trio – the sadistic I.Q. of 150 and college graduate Lenny "Pluto" Franklyn (Michael Beach); his not so bright buddy in San Quentin Ray Malcolm (Billy Bob Thornton); and his girlfriend Fantasia (Cynda Williams). Their further investigation indicates that the criminals are fleeing to Star City, Arkanas, and LAPD detective Dud Cole (Jim Metzler) and his partner John McFeely (Earl Billings) contact the local Chief of Police Dale 'Hurricane' Dixon (Bill Paxton) and they head to the little town. The yokel family man Dale, who is used to resolve domestic issues, is fascinated with the chance to participate of a manhunt and befriends the two detectives. But when he sees the picture of Fantasia, he recognizes her as Lila Walker and is haunted by his past, hiding a secret about Lila Walker.

"One False Move" is a little gem from the 90's and one of the best in the genre neo-noir. The first time I saw this film was on VHS in the early 90's, but now I have the chance of buying the DVD and watching it again. The dramatic story written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson is engaging and without redemption. Cynda Williams, in her second film, is awesome but Bill Paxton "steals" the film in the role of a bragger hillbilly and chief of police that sees the chance of his life of arresting real criminals but meets his past instead. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Um Passo em Falso" ("One False Step")