One False Move (1992) review

The odious trio of Pluto (Michael Beach), Ray (Billy Bob Thornton, who co-wrote the screenplay) and his girlfriend Fantasia (Cynda Williams) murder six individuals for drugs and cash in Los Angeles and then flee to Star City in Arkansas so Fantasia can visit her five-year-old son Byron (Robert Anthony Bell) ... but police chief Dale (Bill Paxton) is there waiting for them (as well as two detectives from the LAPD).  It has noir-ish ambitions but falls well short: it meanders a little (despite the reasonable running time) and all of its characters are loathsome and challenging to root for, with the outlaws being cold-blooded murderers (even Fantasia shoots a state trooper in the head) and Dale's a bumpkin who likes jail bait.  The title is misleading, too - there's more than one false move - although that whip-poor-will sure did know what was comin'....