The film tells the story of three LA drug dealers who, after committing a rather messy murder, hide out in a rural Arkansas town. With the assistance of two Los Angeles Police Department detectives, Star City, Arkansas Police Chief Dale 'Hurricane' Dixon prepares to take on them.
Skillfully performed and welcomely unpredictable, this low-budget crime film, made by actor turned director Carl Franklin, starts out as a herky-jerky exploitation piece, then turns into something better.
Baltimore Sun
May 06, 2013
One False Move doesn't make a single false move its own self: It's as tough and gripping as they come.
Rookie director Carl Franklin shows an obvious gift for pace and storytelling -- uncertain, halting moments are rare. Almost every scene has rich and authentic feeling.
Mixing moments of genuine terror with offbeat comedy, writers Tom Epperson and Thornton have created a script that jumps along with the energy of In Cold Blood.
The biggest difference between One False Move and most other action films is the sting in its violence. There is so little stylization here -- so little gimmickry -- that when someone is shot or knifed, you feel it.
Franklin no alecciona, muestra, a modo de thriller, las terribles consecuencias de la incursión de la violencia en la diaria tranquilidad de un pueblo en el que nunca pasa nada.
Franklin's convincing portrait of life on both sides of the color line isn't quite like anything I've come across before, making One False Move one very assured directorial move. We need more filmmakers like him.
