One False Move

Legend has it that the esteemed writer-director Billy Wilder advised Billy Bob Thornton he would never make it as an actor. ‘You’re not ugly enough to be a character actor but you’re not a cover boy — you’re in-between,’ he told him. ‘Can you write?’

Well, turns out Billy Bob could write: a terrific, lean, violent thriller called One False Move. Naturally, it included a very juicy part for himself, as a criminal lowlife whose outbursts keep the entire movie on edge the whole time. He and his partners in crime (Michael Beach, and Cynda Williams as “Fantasia”) hightail it out of Los Angeles with a trunk-ful of dope, but drive into a world of trouble further down the road.

The movie doesn’t hit you over the head with its smarts like Tarantino would, but it keeps you on your toes and slips in plenty of insightful, resonant asides about the US of A. There’s choice work too from Bill Paxton as a good old boy sheriff. It’s a film that should be much better known today.

Content Considerations: Racist content; drug & alcohol abuse

It’s a film about storytelling, characters, and mood, and in its way, it goes on to say more about the tragedies and inequalities of life than an issue-driven film could.

Jeffery M Anderston, Combustible Celluloid

A whip-smart, crackerjack thriller that is driven entirely by its characters, One False Move is a rare gem that shines brighter each time it’s played. … A unique beauty that deserves your (renewed) attention.

Peter Martin, Screen Anarchy

Everything about this movie — the terse writing, the concise directing, the smart, unaffected acting — is eminently satisfying.

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

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