One False Move
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Movie Reviews of One False Move
Movie Review: Violence for the sake of Violence?
Summary: 3 Stars
This film noir seems, like numerous others, to glorify ultra violence as a unique All-American activity. Others such as Fargo & Red Rock West, get a lot closer to pulling it off, this one doesn't. There is a sub-theme of black and white characters, but the point doesn't come across to either our or the movie's benefit. There is considerable violence and swearing, but no nudity or sex.The 3 bad guys, one white guy and his black girlfriend, as well as a brainy black guy, pull off a grisly heist of narcotics and money. The murders of the witnesses who saw their faces could have been described briefly by the cops later, they didn't have to show the actual killing. The 3 bad guys decide to hide out in the small Ozark town where the white guy grew up. His girl friend is from there as well and her secret contributes to at least one or two additional deaths.
The Los Angeles detectives figure out their only clue to locating the thief/murderers might lie in the Arkansas town where the bad guys are actually heading. There is a semi-amateurish quality to this movie, as if the budget got cut just as production was to begin. In some cases that can work if done well, here it doesn't. It shows up glaringly first as the detectives are discussing the case.
Some of the characters work and some don't. The brainy bad guy's part didn't seem real although it was well acted. The bad girl friend's part seemed real, but her acting didn't. Bill Paxton does an excellent job of being an energetic sheriff who cuts the corners and has always wanted something spectacular to make people appreciate him much more favorably. When he gets in over his head, he's too inxperienced to realize how many mistakes he makes. The LA cops are cardboard figures as are the Arkansas town characters.
I found the characterization of the Arkansas town to be ridiculous. Are we to infer that all small towns have an angry husband trying to slice and dice his wife twice a week with an ax, and the sheriff just blows it off as local charm? The obvious contrast between LA and Star City Arkansas provided a missed opportunity to make a larger commentary about the variety in America. I was sorry it wasn't done.
The final gory climax is well done until the end. The end appears to be intentionally vague which further detracts from the movie.
The movie tries to be more than it is. It's a guy movie.
Movie Review: A Not So Simple Plan
Summary: 3 Stars
Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxton are a good team, as we see in A Simple PLan. This time they are at odds with each other with Paxton a small town cheif of police and Thornton a red neck killer/theif. Two L.A. police officers predict they will return to Star City, AK (Paxton's turf) which is the home of Thornton's grandfather. It is also the childhood home of his girlfriend. It turns out that the girl had a fling with Paxton when she was 17, creating a now 5 year old boy. Paxton has dreams of becoming a L.A. cop himself and follows on their footsteps like a puppy. That is until he overhears the two cops making fun of him. The ending of this film is what is to be expected, except a little vague. Let me tell you, I'm getting a little sick of vague endings. I think that these new directors want to turn their movies into art films. I guess they look at Lost Highway and think that they have to make their film vague to do that. It's getting a little annoying. All in all this is a good film with solid performances, but we've covered most of this ground before, and with a clear ending.Movie Review: BONNIE AND CLYDE IT AIN'T! BUT, IT'S NOT BAD!
Summary: 3 Stars
I never heard of this film before 2008 and considering it's age, that's saying something. While Billy Bob Thornton has done much better(Sling Blade)it's an OK drug/crime/"thugs on the run" film. The film starts out a little too quick for me with a couple of seedy character robbing a drug dealer. From that point on it's "thugs on the run" and there's no turning back. The cast is good and the story is interesting enough, but for a film that wants to get where it's going in a hurry it seemed to take a long time. It's an interesting film that should have taken some time to let us know the characters a little better. As it is, it seemed to be slow when it should have been moving fast and fast when it should have been moving slow. I caught this on cable, so it's worth a watch if you see in on TV.Movie Review: it's alright
Summary: 3 Stars
Normally I wouldn't review a movie like this, but the reviews were a little too kind and I regretably bought it because it wasn't available at the local rental store. Anyway, I didn't think it was an undiscovered gem but decent, pretty watchable, scenes are sometimes boring and non-relavent, but quality acting and an easy to follow plot help make up for it. A little predictable too. Basically, go rent it if you've nothing better to watch.Movie Review: Mediocre is good?
Summary: 2 Stars
I was very disappointed after reading all the glowing reviews for this movie and then watching your average "bad guys on the run" movie. Gee, Billy Bob Thornton plays a crazy bad guy who shoots people and he doesn't like cops at all; he even uses bad language! A friend was watching it with me and he thought I was watching the Lifetime channel. This movie just plodded along down cliche boulevard.