After a violent opening sequence, director Carl Franklin`s ”One False Move” settles down to become a moving character study about a small-town Arkansas sheriff, played by Bill Paxton, whose courage and ambitions are tested ”High Noon”-style when a couple of killers arrive from Los Angeles.
”When I first read the script and I saw those violent scenes, I thought a lot about how I`d handle the violence,” Franklin said. ”In the film you don`t see a lot of blood. But you see the emotion, the loss of life, the violation of a home space. I wanted the audience to feel that loss. I have a problem with romanticized violence in movies.”
”One False Move” was produced by IRS Media, which specializes in low-budget film noir and film noir sendups (”Delusion,” ”Blood and
Concrete,” ”Guilty as Charged”). But Franklin doesn`t see it as part of a series.
”This story doesn`t necessarily conform to any particular genre,” he said. ”It`s both plot and character-oriented, almost like two different scripts in its original form. People who read it would think they`d read an action-movie script, because of the emotion evoked by it, but it`s really more of a relationship drama.”
”As an actor and as a person, I`m more challenged by these kinds of films,” Paxton said. A veteran of such horror movies as ”Aliens” and ”Near Dark,” Paxton demonstrates surprising depth in the role of Sheriff Dale
”Hurricane” Dixon, who spends his time resolving quarrels and keeping the peace in his town. He`s frustrated by years of watching more heroic cops on TV.
”For me, the hardest thing is coming together with the tone of a picture, and to find comedy relief to let the tension out,” Paxton said.
”The audience needs those moments.”
”The character has his unguarded, vulnerable side, and it`s clear that he blunders out of honesty and heart,” Franklin said. ”That`s his flaw-his take on law enforcement, which turns him into part therapist in this town-and that opens him up for all kinds of problems.
Franklin said they had toned down the broadness of the character and the humor from the original script: ”It was important that we not mock what happened in the opening scenes.”
”It was a tightrope we had to walk,” said Paxton, who is best-known for his over-the-top performances in movies such as ”The Dark Backward.” ”Carl gave me the freedom not to have to do too much. It`s so easy to yuck it up, and so hard to underplay.”
A veteran TV actor (”Caribe,” ”McLain`s Law”), Franklin was delighted to play down the chases and gun battles he`s used to.
”What I think is interesting is to take that little world these characters get to participate in-a world that`s full for them-and make that as real as possible,” Franklin said. ”I shot it for a big screen, with an open ending. It`s designed that way.”
