One False Move
I first heard about “One False Move” when Carl Franklin won Best New Filmmaker at the MTV Movie Awards. It led me to this, then “Devil in a Blue Dress” and “One True Thing,” a run of films that showed him capable of captivating suspense and thoughtful character studies. This is the first time in 20-plus years I’ve watched “One False Move,” and what is clear during rewatch is not only that Franklin should still be making feature films (he’s been primarily TV for almost 20 years), but along the way, it was forgotten that Billy Bob Thornton was an interesting writer, as well. After this, “Sling Blade” and his script for Sam Raimi’s “The Gift,” it’s been relatively quiet in his career, and it’s a shame.
“One False Move” follows two trios of characters towards an inevitable showdown. The first is Ray (Thornton), Fantasia (Cynda Williams) and Pluto (Michael Beach). They are drug dealers and murders who’ve left two crime scenes, each with three victims, in Los Angeles. They are now traveling across country to Arkansas to hide. In LA, two detectives (McFeely, played by Earl Billings, and Dud Cole, played by Jim Metzler), whom had already been on their case, find a witness to one set of murders- a kid who was hiding in the house. Did Fantasia miss the kid when Ray sent her looking, or did she deliberately lie about finding him? Regardless, their trek to Arkansas just got more complicated, and when the local sheriff (Dale Dixon, played by Bill Paxton), is informed of the possibility of them showing up, McFeely and Cole’s job either gets easier or harder, as well.
Three is the unlucky number in “One False Move.” Usually, it’s a pair of criminals, or a pair of detectives, or both, that populate crime films. With that third person, that’s one more individual that can either make, or break, the case with one mistake, or when their own intentions don’t line up with the other two. The screenplay by Thornton and Tom Epperson is thoughtful and smart in how it layers the story to illustrate that. Third wheels are dangerous in crime, and can often be expendable. In “One False Move,” those are Fantasia and Dale. Even though Fantasia and Ray seem to embody the archetype of the “lovers on the lam,” at times, Ray and Pluto are the ones who seem to be more in league together, and Fantasia just happens to be involved because she’s with Ray. The town in Arkansas where the trio are headed to to lay low is not only Ray’s hometown, but- we will learn- Fantasia’s, and she has a personal reason for going back in her son, whom she left with her mother. Dale is excited to be working with two detectives from the big city, and he has quite a bit he can offer them, but they would just assume do this on their own, and don’t really regard what Dixon can offer too highly. Dale has a more personal stake in this case as well than we’re initially let on, and it might get him killed. The climax of this film is electric and tragic.
Franklin’s direction is in keeping with some of the great film noirs, though much of the action takes place in broad daylight. He understands the archetypes of the genre, and builds his storytelling to make each of these personalities interesting to follow. Even without Fantasia around, watching Ray and Pluto together reveals interesting dynamics. When Fantasia and Pluto have time to themselves, they share a conversation about how this type of situation plays out for Black people. Seeing Dale do his job in town, you can see why he’d be a good asset on the case, but also why the detectives from LA laugh at the idea of him being a big city cop. All of the pieces in this film have importance to how this story unfolds. Rewatching “One False Move,” it’s easy to see why Franklin was such an exciting voice to follow, and make his brief, shining moment as a cinematic filmmaker feel all the more baffling.
