Review: John Hawkes takes the wheel in quirky pulp drama ‘Small Town Crime

Engagingly anchored by character actor John Hawkes, “Small Town Crime� is a satisfyingly quirky serving of frisky pulp fiction.

Hawkes’ Mike Kendall is a piece of work — an unrepentant alcoholic of a disgraced ex-cop who attempts to outrun his past behind the beer-can-cluttered dashboard of his black Chevy Nova.

His shot at redemption arrives the morning after one of his benders, when he discovers the battered body of a young woman in an empty field not far from where he passed out the night before.

Determined to find her killer — and save himself in the process — Mike’s on the P.I. case, receiving oddball back-up from the victim’s vengeful grandfather (Robert Forster) and a purple-Impala-driving pimp named Mood (Clifton Collins Jr.).

Sharing directing and screenplay chores, brothers Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms have a good ear for the playful neo-noir tone and an equally strong eye for casting, also bringing in always-reliable Octavia Spencer as Kendall’s tough-love sister and Anthony Anderson as her sympathetic husband.

But it’s ultimately the impressively adaptable Hawkes, an Oscar nominee for “Winter’s Bone,� (he’s currently in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri�) whose languid gravitas informs the film as a whole.

With Hawkes at the wheel, the Tarantino-esque terrain may be familiar, but it doesn’t make the ride any less enjoyable.

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‘Small Town Crime’

Rating: R, for strong violence, language and some sexual references

Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Playing: Vintage Los Feliz 3, Los Angeles; also on VOD

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