Retro Film Review: China Moon (1994)
Any actor starring in sufficient number of genre films is in danger of being hopelessly typecast. Madeleine Stowe was in that position in late 1980s and early 1990s. At least this is impression you might gather after watching her playing women whose beauty and charm proved too great challenge for professional ethics of lonely policemen. Protagonist of China Moon, 1994 neo-noir thriller directed by Ray Bailey, is just another example. Detective Kyle Bodine (played by Ed Harris) is a homicide investigator from Polk County, Florida, well-known and respected for his ability to quickly solve even the most complicated murders. One night in a bar he meets beautiful Rachel Munro (played by Madeleine Stowe) and the heat, full moon and blues do the rest – he is desperately in love with her. Unfortunately, she happens to be married to Rupert Munro (played by Charles Dance), local banker whose idea of marriage includes cheating and physical abuse. One night during the fight he gets killed and Rachel calls Kyle for help. Detective is faced with the dilemma - whether to act as a professional or to help the woman he loves. Confident that his crime-solving abilities would help him to cover up the crime, he chooses the latter, unaware of the many unpleasant surprises that await him.
Branding China Moon as "just another film noir" or "poor man's Body Heat" would be too simplistic and unfair to Bailey's film. It is true that this film has many things in common with Lawrence Kasdan's masterpiece - Florida setting being the most obvious - yet the film nevertheless looks and feels original. This is mostly thanks to the good night-time photography by Willy Kurant and good music soundtrack by George Fenton. The characters, despite being typical for this sort of movies, are well-written and convincing. This is especially the case with always reliable Ed Harris, who is very convincing as capable no-nonsense police professional who would make wrong choice more due to his own pride than lust. Stunningly beautiful Madeleine Stowe is also very effective as femme fatale, as well as young (and almost unrecognisable) Benicio del Toro as Bodine's partner. Unfortunately, the Carlson's script at the end becomes slave to the formula and the finale is quite predictable. However, the viewers shouldn't be too harsh towards Carlson or director Ray Bailey. They should remember Bodine's saying about killers and realise that it applies to the filmmakers too. Luckily, in the case of China Moon in happens in a way that won't affect generally positive impression of this film.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on August 28th 2002)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/26337-china-moon?language=en-US
Critic: AA