Haven't made a movie review on here in years, but had to log in to post this. I didn't think this would be my kind of movie, but I loved it. Favourite movie in months. The slow pace picks up so slowly that before you know it you're watching an action movie. My impression at the end was that it was like watching a modern western - set in suburban life instead of a dusty saloon town.

This is ARNULD again, here to to lift-up your spirits :)

I watched it because I thought it was a Budget-Action movie. Well, it was not. This movie was original, had mature acting, original shooting scenes, original dialogues & quite engaging . You become a part of the story. They do not make these kinds of movies anymore . It was serious but not dark, it had funny moments but those were not so funny that they will kill the drama or seriousness of the theme. I consider it one of my favorites. If you are happy then go watch it to become happier. If you are serious then go watch it to admire the theme. Just do not miss it if you like action movies with emotional drama mixed into them.

Looking for your annual rural crime/drama/black comedy/character study fix? Well, Three Billboards, which I reviewed the other day, provides that with something more illusory and profound. If you're after one that's a bit more old school and straightforward, check out the Nelms Brother's Small Town Crime, a brutal, breezy thriller starring John Hawkes, an actor I remember from the fringes of the 90's who seems to have gone newly platinum these days thanks to an Oscar nomination for 2010's Winter's Bone. He's hilariously sympathetic here as a raging alcoholic ex-cop who stumbles right into the middle of a murder ring with the crosshairs latched onto a group of local underage prostitutes. Never one to back down once he gets a few cold ones in him before noon, he's on the case between sessions at the dive bar and inebriated joyrides in his souped up muscle car. There's a slightly off kilter, surreal quality to his story and that of those around him, a coming and going sense that these are a cartoonish series of events that aren't really happening, when one looks at the supporting characters. Robert Forster has never been more deadpan or watchable as the tycoon grandfather of one of the slain hookers, a hands-on gent who isn't afraid to dust off his giant scoped rifle to help out. He's joined by outlandish Latino pimp Mood (Clifton Collins Jr., who needs way more roles), both of them assisting Hawkes in his crusade. Even the psychotic hitman (Jeremy Ratchford) dispatched to kill everyone in sight has a distinctly 'out there', roadrunner vibe. But Hawkes anchors the whole deal with the mopey, sad-sack realism of his character, a loser who's dead-end existence has been given a new lease on legacy. His best buddy Anthony Anderson and wife Octavia Spencer give the plot some gravity too, a neat seesaw effect that sits opposite Forster and Collins exaggerated antics. The film has a funny way of both ambling along at it's own pace and jumping out at you with warp speed jump cuts and brazen, bloody violence. The dialogue is pure poetry in areas and knowing camp in others, neatly balanced. Don Harvey and veteran tough gal Dale Dickey have great bits as salty bartenders, while Daniel Sunjata and haggard looking ex-pretty boy (remember him in Monster In Law with Jane Fonda and J-Lo?) Michael Vartan play two local detectives who are always frustrated to be a step behind Hawkes, who plays off the grid and close to the chest. Small Town Crime is a small time film, but the craft gone into bringing it to our screens couldn't be bigger or more commendable from all angles. Highly recommended.

John Hawkes is not often found in principal roles; but this movie shows he is perfectly capable of carrying a movie even when he looks like a common person. Hawkes is Mike Kendall; a fired (alcoholic ex cop) trying to get back to the force or looking for a job (both things he is not likely to succeed). He finds a moribund woman on the road; take her to the hospital but she dies. He decided to investigate the crime as a way to do something or perhaps clean himself. Things get complicated; because nothing is really as simple as it looks and many people has skeletons in the closet. Add to the equation a couple of ruthless killers trying to clean up the mess and two pissed of characters ( a grandfather and a pimp; each one for different reasons) and Kendall's own stupidly.

While the movie takes a few minutes time to get going; once it is the steam is never lost. The ironic end; is perfectly acceptable.

In brief: a very good independent thriller that deserves a public.

Perhaps I'm engaging in a bit of grade inflation by giving this movie 10 stars but I wanted to wash away the acrid venom I had in my last review. Imagine how different our current movie landscape would be if instead of the last ten comic book movies we had ten times that many gems like Small Town Crimes.

Whatever was wrong with this film-and there wasn't much wrong-it wasn't due to the fact that they didn't have any huge movie stars. Good directors can get good performances out of just about anyone, and these guys are good directors.

Well acted and well paced at every step, this was a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes.

This movie was highly entertaining till this end, good plot and good flick, good acting all te way long, and also some really good sense of humor through this film noir story, which reminds me from some brittish crime movies like Guy Ritchies one's. I think it's fair to give it a 9 stars as it cuts though all those average thrillers we constantly got... well this one is a decent popcorn flick!

Small Town Crime starts off simply enough. Its plot is very reminiscent of old gumshoe classic such as The Long Goodbye and the Maltese Falcon. You've got your hard-drinking private detective who stumbles onto a dead body and becomes involved with a variety of shady characters. As all of these movies go, one dead body leads to a web of murder and deceit that happens to be an incredibly satisfying mystery.

The film is anchored by an incredibly strong central performance by John Hawkes, who effortlessly injects humanity into his flawed protagonist. He plays the character as someone who is simultaneously sleazy and likable. He attempts to right the wrongs of his past, but can't help but lie at every turn. Hawkes' performance is incredibly gripping and creates a character that we want to see uncover the mystery.

The tone of the film is a mixture of dark comedy and brutal violence. The film handles this very well, however the sudden shifts may be off-putting to some viewers. While the violence is shocking, it adds to the tension of the action scenes and only enhances what was already a great film.

For viewers looking for a throwback to classic, detective stories then Small Town Crime should be on your Netflix queue. While the graphic violence comes as a surprise, the central performances build a cast of interesting characters who we invest in. The film moves along at a brisk pace and ends with a satisfying conclusion.

Small Town Crime tells the story of an alcoholic ex-cop who finds a young woman's body and commits himself to finding her killer.

It's not the most original premise, and neither is the plot, character development, or execution. And that's the first impression I got from this movie: that it didn't stray an inch from its genre's conventions. This doesn't necessarily connote a bad movie. Netflix's Stranger Things and Paco Plaza's Veronica are perfect examples of this. Unfortunately, Small Town Crime doesn't do the same for the hard-boiled crime genre.

It's an enjoyable experience, only one that you'll forget instantly. It's a popcorn flick, but not one with the eye-candy spectacle that accompanies a blockbuster budget. The plot develops in interesting, occasionally unpredictable ways. But rather than being edge-of-your-seat tension, you'll best enjoy this movie slumped back in an armchair. The acting was also good, but, don't expect it to win any awards. The the writing also holds any potential for relatable performances, particularly John Hawkes'. His unfulfilled potential and backstory cried out for more attention. Essentially, the movie presents a largely paint-by-numbers plot, which sadly forces characterisation into the backseat.

The second and third acts also rush through the plot, a little too unfocused. The script demanded a re-write if it hoped to deliver anything spectacular.

Is it just me or does any movie with actor Robert Forster in ever a bad Movie? Something about underrated Forster regardless if he's only in a movie for 5, 10 or 20 minutes makes it that much better! I bet Tarantino loves this movie! Kind of a 'film noir' movie about redemption with a great cast! I can't recommend it enough!

This film is just flat out a lot of fun. Hawkes kills it in every scene. It's certainly going to have people comparing it to the Coen Brothers and Blood Simple. Well yes, it resembles their fingerprints to a degree, but it is so well done you won't be bothered by it. This is no hackwork by lesser filmmakers. It balances comedy, drama, and action surprisingly well. You never know when violence is about to break out, and break out it does. Everyone gets bloody. This is one of the best films I've seen in awhile. If you liked Three Billboards you should give this a shot.

A number of seemingly unconnected events collide in this story of an alcoholic ex-cop seeking redemption over a failed traffic bust and the murder of his partner. As if Mike Kendall's (John Hawkes) luck wasn't bad enough, the roadside shootout resulted in the death of a woman bound and gagged in the trunk of the perp's car, courtesy of on-the-job drunk Kendall. Now I don't know about you, but when this was all revealed in a series of flashback scenes, I had to wonder why Kendall was still walking around loose, not to mention attempting to get his old job back. Am I missing something here?

So with that unconventional premise, Kendall stumbles into a blackmail plot and local prostitution ring that gradually sucks in former associates of Kendall on the police force and members of his own family. There's a bit of a shock value twist provided by Octavia Spencer's role as the wife of Kendall's best friend Teddy (Anthony Anderson); turns out she's Kendall's sister by foster family adoption. She's black, he's white, makes for diversity but somewhat incredible given the circumstances.

You know, this isn't the first time I've run into this, so maybe it bears mentioning. There's a bull of a hit-man in this flick that goes by the name of Orthopedic (Jeremy Ratchford). Maybe I missed it, but I never heard his name used in the picture, and the only way I know it is because I use captioning when I watch movies. Otherwise, how would I have known? By way of comparison, I never figured out what his partner called himself, I missed his name as well if it was given. Kind of frustrating.

Oh well, the eventual showdown results in Kendall achieving a measure of the redemption he was looking for, even if it took his brother-in-law taking a bullet and all the bad guys getting wiped out. You had to hang around after the first set of closing credits to learn that the third real estate guy got nabbed by Mood (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Yendel (Robert Forster). If you missed it, no big deal. It's not like it was a Marvel comic flick hooking you for a sequel.

So what's with my summary line, you ask? Well yeah, this movie had a hooker named Heidi (Caity Lotz) who was also a Sharon Stone Look-alike. Right before watching this film, I caught a Western titled "Gone Are the Days" with Lance Henriksen in the lead, who had a daughter who wound up a prostitute when her mentor was killed. That Heidi role went to Meg Steedle.

Crime has been committed in a small town! The police are a bunch of aresholes, and refuse to do anything about it. Some other bloke who used to be a policeman decides he'll sort everything out. This proves to be quite difficult.

If you're a fan of underage prostitution, this could be the movie for you.

Languages spoken: American.

I rate Small Town Crime at 24.97 on the Haglee Scale, which works out as a surprisingly competent 7.5/10 on IMDB.

Okay, so this movie did employ some of the same cliche' plot themes used in crime drama's, but a good movie non the less. This is a story of an alcoholic ex-police officer who is struggling with life and fighting his inner demons. He comes across a girl, who was left for dead and then becomes obsessed with finding her killer. I can say that it offers no real mystery, everything is pretty much out in the air for the viewer. However, it was a movie that kept my attention and I wanted to keep watching it. The acting was pretty good as well. It wasn't an on the edge thriller and at times ran a slow pace, but it does pick up. It also left me with some small unanswered questions because it never completely explains his story or what happened to him. Other than that, the movie is definitely a good movie to watch if this is your genre of movies. You won't be bored or regret watching it.

Never heard of it. Came across it on Netflix. This is one of the best pulp fiction crime movies I have seen in a long time. It's both gritty and funny in parts. The characters are awesome and the story and pacing just roll.

Definitely recommend.

This was surprisingly good and well acted. I enjoyed it.

Let's be honnest : I almost stopped watching this movie after ten minutes because I felt it was a kind of parody, quite funny but it was not at all what I was expecting. Luckily, I kept on warching, and the more the plot went on, the more I was hooked. The plot is intelligent, well built, the characters are strongly defined and the acting is perfect. Add to that a very elegant staging, a beautiful photography, and you have a pretty good... what ? Action movie ? Film noir ? Modern western ? Well, actually the movie borrows from all these genres while succeeding to exist as a work in its own right. It is both funny and dark, light and serious, touching and violent. For all those reasons I really loved this movie. Of course this not a masterpiece, but it is not either a "forget after watching" movie like there are a lot right now. PS : sorry for my English, I am French and I have not written in English for a long time

I read the reviews and watched the trailer thought it might be another low budget time waster but it was surprisingly very good. Mike is a likable underdog looking to redeem himself. The story is especially exciting to follow and leads to a great ending.

This is an excellent film, very well executed in more ways than one. I was surprised more than once and although the storyline has been used more or less before this film used it more effectively in my opinion. The actual filming and angles, mood lighting and attention to detail, the silence at the right moments and the gradual mood changes within scenes and simple yet effective direction make me want to see much more from both the cast and the crew, refreshing to see, and a film, although tired in subject matter, i will often remember

The Coen Bros first hit BLOOD SIMPLE not only remains the best iteration of the modern Haute Noire but is also an easy target for newbies. Which is what this film is, another set of bros aim for the brass ring with a goofy, feisty and often unpredictable tale of a failed cop turned detective. It almost works. But 'almost' only counts in horseshoes. Hawkes' performance is worth the ticket however, painting a portrait of a loser who finally finds his niche. Unfortunately, the Nelms Boys are still looking for theirs.

I'll admit, John Hawkes character was somewhat entertaining, however, his overnight transition from a self described falling down drunk to a the individual that was going to put a violent misdeed right was simply not believable.

The story line is not original and generally predictable throughout. John Hawkes is an alcoholic ex cop who finds a young woman who has been brutalized and left for dead and decides to immerse himself in solving the crime..... sound familiar? The "down-on-your-luck" character presented as a potential savior is a cheap hook to draw people in and admittedly, this theme and the implausibly high ratings from others convinced me to give it a try. What spoiled it for me in the end was a plot that lacked authenticity and simply became less plausible as the story progressed.

There's plenty of violent action and as stated previously, most people enjoy seeing characters rise up to confront evil which may be enough for some, however, this story just didn't have enough substance to be very satisfying.

I also have to wonder at the ratings for this movie. If you are rating a movie a "10" or even a "9," to me you're saying that was one of the best movies you've ever seen... probably should be nominated for an Oscar or Golden Globe. This phenomenon occurs much too frequently on IMDb. This film is not Oscar caliber - it's mediocre at best.

Outstanding effin' movie about a drunken ex-cop (John Hawkes) seeking redemption. Sound like a cliche? Not in this case. The cop, Mike Kendall, manages to get his partner and a kidnap victim killed while drunk on duty, and it is a measure of the fabled Cop Protection Society that he is not spending twenty years in jail for manslaughter. He is, though, thrown out on his ear, earning opprobrium and contempt from his fellow cops and he becomes a world class drunk, parking his wonderful Nova SS in his front yard (through the picket fence, of course) and in the middle of fields, waking up a couple of days later. But see, once you've gone Brotherhood, you always go back and Kendall yearns to slap on a badge once again. He gets his chance when he discovers a woman's body by the side of the road. This is a straight up story of blackmail and sleaze, no twists and maguffins, more Fargo than Chinatown. But you'll get a kick out of it.

Really glad I landed on this one tonight. Small Town Crime reminded me of a sort of one-horse/one town Pulp Fiction in many ways. A character heavy, stylized (but not over-stylized) noir/crime film with with some dark humor and Westerns homage thrown in. Not as much of a comic book feel as PF, but this is definitely a movie that hovers slightly beyond how the real world works. Loved the contrasts: brutal shoot em ups transposed against everyday domestic scenes, the overly stereotyped characters and the quirky unique ones. Lot's of car chases and scenes in cars, and for the lead character, his souped-up 80s muscle car is an anchor set piece. The story here isn't as gritty as you might think; it's lighter and breezier than its subject matter; the villains here are comic book villains, the the heroes are drunks and pimps, and the bad guys die and the good guys live. As others have said, the movie was amply cast with talented actors.

This apparently small film is bringing the thrills and chills of a murder/crime story to the max. With few known actors, we can't guess what will happen. Great!

Watched this on a recommendation and when it started I thought 'here we go'. Well the film just got better and better, the characterisations were spot on, just enough. The plot had absolutely no flab, and no lag, very well written and tight. The acting is wholly convincing and the casting is absolutely nailed, maybe not a commercial choice but spot on for this movie As every part was convincing in a way where you watch a character not an actor. That takes some doing.

Flawed ex-cop turns private eye to solve a small town murder. (Where do they come up with these ideas!)

This is a strictly 'by the numbers' crime caper but it's elevated by the lead character, Mike Kendall. He's not particularly tough or smart or even likable, but he's strong enough and interesting enough to carry this predictable story of blackmail and murder.

A bar owner and some young girls think it would be a good idea to blackmail some out-of-town real estate moguls and at the beginning, they cash in. Eventually, the big city execs get tired of paying so they put out a hit on the girls... and one by one they disappear. The ex-cop and the real cops form an uneasy alliance to nab the bad guys... (I'm telling you, these ideas... genius!)

Anyway, after the 90-minute runtime people get shot, coshed on the noggin and roughed up - and the bad guys are rounded up or killed!

There's a moderately interesting angle about Kendall being adopted and the relationship with his forgiving black sister and her nice husband. You get the feeling it was written in to add a 'human element' for the private eye. It works well enough but it wasn't necessary.

As added bonuses, the cameramen on this movie set all know how to operate tripods and there's not one single time-line shift! Those two factors alone make this adventure worth watching!

I enjoyed it a lot and I'll watch it again, so 7 out of 10 from me for what that's worth.