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With the trio on the run with their cocaine/cash haul, two incidents stand out from the brutality. Pluto intentionally left the party video camera running, recording all that took place, while Fantasia both found and let go the drug supplier's young son. For the tired looking LA cops the party tape proves vital, carrying evidence that Fantasia is headed for Star City, Arkansas. Obviously this was a big mistake for Pluto to make, despite his high intelligence. However, Ray (his San Quentin prison buddy) is considerably more volatile, turning apoplectic as their mugshots hit the national papers. It's seems strange that Fantasia hangs out with the threat that is Ray, but then she is a coke-head and turns out to have certain reasons for visiting Arkansas. With such an unpredictable bunch of fugitives heading towards sleepy-town, the odds are that there'll be trouble.
Out in Star City, the local sheriff Dale "Hurricane" Dixon (Bill Paxton) sure doesn't mind being brought into the operation. It's the biggest thing to hit his area in years and he's bursting to work with the LA cops flying out, Dud Cole (Jim Metzler) and John McFeely (Earl Billings). As they plan the ambush Dale comes across as a real country rube, compared to his sophisticated, world-weary partners. However, his hands-on style is perfectly suited to Star City, even if he does dream of becoming a big-city officer. As news of Ray and Pluto filters through it seems that their preparations aren't in vain, as long as the killers actually make it to Arkansas (given their lethal and amoral behaviour that's debatable).
The essence of One False Move is that it's a great character study working within a tale which starts in one (predictable) vein then shifts to something entirely different. The script presents many extremely tense moments, some of which are quite gory, but the beauty is that these fit right in to the overall picture. The villains, Ray and Pluto, commit acts which are both stupid and violent, but they're never just there to service the script. Utterly irredeemable they are swept along by a tide of increasing desperation, much of which centres around Fantasia. She is quite the enigma in several ways (although much becomes clear with time) but at least Fantasia had dreams. The way in which crucial connections to Dale and Star City are gradually revealed works well, a slow excavation of one country boy's can-of-worms.
A fine cast ably deal with their assigned personalities, revealing details which could so easily be lost in a film using broader brush-strokes. Bill Paxton, as the central figure, does an excellent job of initially portraying Dale as an unknowing bigot before filling in the blanks, revealing how boyishly over-awed he is by the "big league" detectives. That they turn their visit into a holiday just makes the city-country contrast more acute. While little is made of the vast landscape available, unusual camera angles (many peering from ground level) enhance the general edgy feel. A surprising aspect, which only emerges near the end, is just how sad the characters are (in their own ways); it's easy to get quite emotional. Thankfully a crime movie not driven by stunts or special effects, One False Move comes very close to becoming a truly top-class film - very close indeed.
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