China Moon (1994)

Worth watching for Charles Dances attempt at an southern American accent. They should of just made his character British. Haha

Kyle Bodine (Ed Harris) is the lead detective teaching less experienced Lamar Dickey (Benicio del Toro). Kyle is taken with Rachel Munro (Madeleine Stowe). She had hired a private eye to take pictures of her wealthy banker husband Rupert Munro (Charles Dance) cheating. Rachel buys a gun and starts a romance with Kyle. Kyle and Lamar are called in on a domestic abuse at the Munros. While Kyle is helping her leave her abusive husband, she shoots him in self-defense. She fears the perception of her unregistered gun and no witnesses. She convinces Kyle to help her cover up the killing. Kyle and Lamar investigate the missing Monro. Lamar finds surprising new evidences seeming to point to Kyle.This is very much by the book hard-boiled thriller. The movie moves a bit too slowly for the first half. It needs to start with Kyle and Rachel already in a heated romance. There's no need to waste time developing the chemistry. These are great actors able to sell an already heated romance. They need to get to the killing faster. The tension is all in the cover-up. It's basically a 40 minute setup. This is a bit slow and the tension is not high until the second half. However it has great actors and they keep the movie going.

China Moon had a limited run when it was released in 1994.It was resurrected when television channels started to show it on regular basis in 1995.The success of this film proves that television can always be considered as a viable alternative to cinema for certain films.This gave a new lease of life to this film about an experienced cop who is destroyed due to overconfidence in trusting a rich girl friend and a junior colleague at office.There are plenty of good moments in this film which can interest viewers.It is with great interest viewers can watch how actor Benicio Del Toro's character is developed.He gets trained by working under a nice boss but his outsmarting his boss is a complete shock to viewers.Ed Harris is cool in his role as a cop who doesn't know much about imminent dangers when he is part of a romantic relationship with a rich woman.Actors Charles Dance and Madeleine Stowe provide good support to the story as the couple whose marriage has crumbled due to differences of ideas.

A nice little thriller with a twist. Charles Dance wasted again, this time with the most ridiculous Southern accent. I like Ed Harris in just about anything, so he got me through this one. Stowe is good; I have also liked her in other movies where you have to pay attention to the dialog. I have lately discovered that del Toro has been around much longer than I realized - it is nice to see his early work as an indication of the presence he has on-screen. The comparisons to "Body Heat" are understandable - but I think this one stands on its own as one way to spend an evening with a movie that you actually watch to see what happens.