Franklin seizes the opportunity to make a film that tightly binds up any political concerns it may have into the plot.

Full Review | Nov 16, 2017

Clark Franklin's One False Move brings a shotgun to a knife fight, and the results aren't pretty.

Full Review | May 6, 2017

Franklin's convincing portrait of life on both sides of the color line isn't quite like anything I've come across before, making One False Move one very assured directorial move. We need more filmmakers like him.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 6, 2013

For most of the way, One False Move is taut and sure-footed.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 6, 2013

Skillfully performed and welcomely unpredictable, this low-budget crime film, made by actor turned director Carl Franklin, starts out as a herky-jerky exploitation piece, then turns into something better.

Full Review | May 6, 2013

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

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 6, 2013

The biggest difference between One False Move and most other action films is the sting in its violence. There is so little stylization here -- so little gimmickry -- that when someone is shot or knifed, you feel it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | May 6, 2013

Emotionally complex thriller with riveting performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 6, 2013

Mixing moments of genuine terror with offbeat comedy, writers Tom Epperson and Thornton have created a script that jumps along with the energy of In Cold Blood.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | May 6, 2013

There's plenty to be impressed by while watching this 1992 noirish thriller, cowritten by Tom Epperson and directed by Carl Franklin, but not a great deal of aftertaste.

Full Review | May 6, 2013

A sardonic and explosive crooks-on-the-lam saga in the tradition of Bonnie and Clyde.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Sep 7, 2011

Working for the most part in straightforward style, director Carl Franklin achieves considerable suspense by pitting the frailties of each party against the other.

Full Review | Oct 2, 2008

One of the finest American movies in recent years.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2006

Mr. Franklin's measured pacing and James L. Carter's meticulous cinematography give One False Move a clear, bold, angular look reminiscent of many other nouveau noir films, especially Blood Simple, the one that put the Coen brothers on the map.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 20, 2003

One False Move is a thriller with a hair-trigger sense of tension. Directed by newcomer Carl Franklin, its power comes from the stripped-down simplicity of its style and the unblinking savagery of its violence.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

It's an eerie and horrifying experience, ably directed by newcomer Carl Franklin. It's also unsettlingly compelling, even at its most conventional moments.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

Franklin's direction is so good that it's no exaggeration to say that One False Move seldom makes one.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 1, 2000

Here is a crime movie that lifts you up and carries you along in an ominously rising tide of tension, building to an emotional payoff of amazing power.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 1, 2000