Small Town Crime 

Written and Directed by Eshom & Ian Nelms
Starring John Hawkes, Anthony Anderson, Robert Forster, and Octavia Spencer
Released in the US: Jan. 19, 2018
Watch Time: 91 min.

I was in a mood. I liked the title: Small Town Crime. And it delivered exactly what I was hoping for – a contemporary noirish story about a derelict, alcoholic ex-cop who happens upon the bloody body of a young woman, and, against the better judgement of everyone who knows him, decides he’s going to solve the crime.

John Hawkes in the lead. Lean and scruffy and always ready with a quick, wry smirk, he lights up every scene and enlists the viewer’s sympathy without demonstrating a single socially redeeming quality. Also very good, Robert Forster, with limited screen time, playing the wealthy grandfather of the murdered girl.

You can’t approach a noir cop film directed by a pair of brothers without making associations with the great Coen brothers, and there is ample evidence in Small Town Crime that they were part of the Nelms’ education. (Particularly in their invention of the gruesome character of the murderous Orthopedic, played chillingly by Jeremy Ratchford.) There is also lots of blood and guts à la Quentin Tarantino and a superb Tarantino-like character in Mood, played by Clifton Collins.

As a noir cop movie, I’d give it 4.5 out of 5.

You can watch the trailer here.