On C List of Movie Reviews
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China Moon (1994)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
1/20, 3/20
1/20:
China Moon is an outstanding stylish neo-noir of who's fooling who in the tradition of
Body Heat and Double Indemnity.
Instead of William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, it's Ed Harris and Madeleine Stowe stirring up things. As a bonus treat,
Benicio del Toro takes the place of Mickey Rourke. Charles Dance plays the sinister philandering husband.
The results are terrific with an absorbing plot and plenty of twists. Benicio del Toro and Charles Dance were once bad guys
in different Bond films, and now, they do it again. By the way, first-time director John Bailey used to be Lawrence
Kasdan's cinematographer for several pictures, but he didn't work for him during Body Heat.
At first, I thought the setting was alongside the coastline of either Georgia or South Carolina because of the absence of heat or
humidity, but it turned out to be Florida (Lakeland, Barstow, Tampa, and St. Petersburg) just like in
Body Heat. If
you notice how clear the water is when Ed Harris and Madeleine Stowe went for a swim off the row boat which was incidentally
built by Benicio's father, it's most definitely Rainbow Springs State Park which is located near Dunnellon. Yet if I think about it,
why did they dump the body there where it could be easily seen, no matter how deep the water was?
There are big questions. Why would a guy cheat on somebody beautiful like Madeleine Stowe? Shame on her character's husband.
Why did Kyle (Ed Harris) throw away his code of ethics when he could've called in the killing as justifiable homicide?
The explanation of the events leading up to it would've held up. What was Kyle thinking at the end? He should've known
better in terms of handling the situation like...getting a lawyer right away to protect himself once he figured out the angle.
There are two things that I found funny in regard to Madeleine Stowe. One is her character's last name is Munro. She was
also Cora Munro two years earlier in The Last of the Mohicans. However, here's the situation: China Moon was
filmed in 1991 but saw its theatrical release delayed for three years due to Orion's bankruptcy. The second is: if you observe
closely when Madeleine shot the gun at Charles Dance, she's wearing an ear plug which gave away the idea that it was a
possible setup right from the start, which turns out to be true, but her character had already fallen for Kyle despite the
plan of using him as the fall guy. That's the difference between China Moon and
Body Heat.
All in all, if you loved Body Heat, you'll love China Moon.
3/20:
China Moon is an all-around outstanding neo-noir with Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe, Benicio del Toro, and
Charles Dance.
All in all, I'll be watching China Moon again.