Little Dixie – A Dull Crime Thriller (Early Review)

Frank Grillo sure is charming. Unfortunately for him, that charm can only take him so far when it comes to Little Dixie. Throw in an excess of thin “seedy” characters into a convoluted crime action thriller and it’s only a matter of time until audiences will find themselves bored out of their minds. That being said, for those who simply wanted to see Frank Grillo doing Frank Grillo things and leaving quite the body count for 100 or so minutes, they will definitely not be disappointed but it’s hard to not want more. By the time something remotely interesting happens, it’s far too late. To its credit, the film has a decent cast to lean on. However, it also does next to nothing with them, script aside. Trying to be something more than it arguably should have been, most are likely to tune it out in what amounts to yet another watch that is as mindless as it is disposable. If anything, there is at least some fun to be had in the cheesiness of it all. While there are better options out there, in a pinch, this one should do fine.

Little Dixie follows a fixer named Doc Alexander (Grillo) who was tasked to facilitate a truce between Oklahoma Governor Richard Jeffs (Dane) and the Prado cartel. Once that truce became tenuous at best and eventually fell apart, Alexander was essentially left to fend for himself as both sides began to close ranks and eliminate loose ends. As far as he was concerned, his priority above all else was his daughter Nell (Bryant) for whom her nickname was “Little Dixie” (hence the movie title). Little did they know, they found themselves in the middle of that war. In order to get out of that war, Alexander would need to navigate the grey area between friends and foes and an eccentric and overzealous cartel enforcer named Raphael (Beau Knapp). However, that subplot found itself drowning in everything which made the film increasingly dull to watch as a result.

Offering a conspiracy with plenty of twists and turns as the truth behind the truce between Jeffs and the Prado cartel and the role that those inside Jeffs’ inner circle played a part in it was slowly unveiled, audiences are given little to no reason whatsoever to care because all they really want to see is Alexander/Grillo to do action star things. Ultimately, those moments were few and far between but whenever they arrived, they were admittedly kind of cool to watch. Take it or leave it story aside, the best part of the film was of course the aforementioned Grillo and his effortless charm. That charm alone carries a film that would not have worked at all without it. Alexander is the flawed yet sympathetic character that somewhat grounds the story and he and Bryant as Nell make it at least compelling to watch even though a lot of what was around him left much to be desired. While Knapp as Raphael had potential, that potential never really had the chance to be realized outside of some sinister scene-stealing moments. The best way to describe everyone else is that they were just there for better or worse.

At the end of the day, Little Dixie is yet another film in a long line of derivative action thrillers that will provide some mindless entertainment in the moment before being immediately forgotten once the credits roll.

still courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.