An often stunning collaboration between the under-rated Carl
Franklin and Billy Bob Thornton, whose taut screenplay is as much a
gritty Western update as a neo-noir. Dale Dixon (Paxton), Sheriff of
the tiny Star City, Arkansas, has a problem heading his way: three
low-lifes (including Thornton's pony-tailed thug) on a drive-by
crime spree from California. Anticipating his big break, he agrees to
help the LAPD, but things get messy when a past relationship lands on his
doorstep. Not only a tautly paced policier with culture clash asides,
it's populated by living, breathing, bleeding human beings whose
survival genuinely matters. Check it out.
