Small Town Crime

I came across this film just going through what movies were playing and I recorded this one, and enjoyed it very much. The acting was good, the plot was real and I had a great time watching it. Not for children, and some bloody police action!

it was good good story ending leaves u unfillfilled though

In this small town, crime can happen in the least likely of situations! As an ex-cop attempts to redeem himself by investigating the body of a murdered prostitute, only to get himself and his loved ones into some mortal danger. Darkly comedic while still staying grounded, this underrated crime drama manages to leave its mark on those who get to watch it!

Hawkes, one of my favorite character actors. Love seeing him in a lead role here. He crushes it!

Should have been so much better with this cast.

Somehow Small Town Crimes are always interesting to watch.

Not at all what I expected going in and I loved every second of it. Lead by the always magnetic and consistently underrated John Hawkes who anchors the film with his performance, ‘Small Town Crime' is a great mix of comedy, mystery and action with some surprisingly graphic violence. There's a lot of dark stuff, but the cleverly managed tone and underlying optimism means it never feels too heavy. Ultimately, it's a story of revenge, redemption and overcoming all the bad things that have happened to you, hopefully getting your life back on track.

That was not a small town. I'm fine with just going with it, but there were too many things that irritated me with the location and the plot.

Realistic characters in an interesting plot. Well acted & keeps you guessing while on the edge of your seat.

A noir thriller with doses of black humor, "Small Town Crime" might not be a total success, but it's worth watching for the performance of John Hawke. Like Harry Dean Stanton, who I'm certain is an influence, Hawke has one of those faces with all the mournfulness of the world etched on it. He also inhabits a role the way Stanton did. (Stanton died in 2017, the year this film was made). In this case, his role is that of alcoholic ex-cop Mike Kendall, who was expelled from the force in a small western town for committing a major screw up on the job. We learn in flashbacks that Hawke's partner ordered him to stay in the car during a traffic stop because he had been drinking. The partner is shot and killed, Mike gets out of the car, fires, and accidentally kills the person tied up in the trunk. He is now on unemployment, with no chance of being reinstated. He applies for jobs that nobody will give him, and he gets hammered every night. He wakes up in the middle of a field one morning after a night of drinking, begins driving home, and encounters a young woman lying in the weeds. He drops her at the emergency room, but she soon dies. Kendall can't let go of the case, even though he has no legal right to pursue it. He has 25 business cards printed up with a fake name, proclaiming himself a private detective. He visits the young woman's parents and tells them he knew her in high school and wants to find her killer. It's clear that he wants to make restitution for his bad acts as a cop. Turns out that the girl, who comes from a good family, had descended into drug abuse and prostitution. After receiving a check from the girl's angry grandfather (Robert Forster), he explores the seamy underside of his town in his rattletrap 1960's Chevy Nova. Violent mayhem ensues. Filmed by the brothers Ian and Eshom Nelms, "Small Town Crime" is well-plotted but doesn't walk the line between comedy and tragedy as skillfully as noir films by those other well-known brothers. Some of the dialogue could use a touch up, and it lapses into predictable chase scenes and shoot outs in the last third. But thanks to Hawke-- and solid performances by Forster, Anthony Anderson, Octavia Spencer, Michael Vartan, and Clifton Collins, Jr.--it holds your attention to the end.