Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

km_staple To me, the ending was like they didn't know how to end the story, so lets just kill them. But Ed Harris is wonderful and so sexy in this movie. I've watched it many times! The rest of the cast is great as well.

edwagreen Ed Harris and Madeleine Stowe light up the screen in this thriller about an intelligent cop who always claims that the murderer messes up. Was that line ever true. Harris begins an affair with Stowe, who is in an abusive marriage with a very effective Charles Dance, who sports a southern drawl amid his misery.When Stowe shoots Dance in self-defense, Harris willingly becomes an accessory by destroying the clues. It seems like the perfect crime is committed until Harris's assistant, a very good Benecio Del Toro, shows that he is much more capable than Harris ever thought. In fact, he is a little too smart.It's at this point that the movie begins to sag. The ironic ending is a bit too much to swallow.

bob_meg OK, now I get it. I just checked the credits of China Moon's screenwriter and my fears have been confirmed...prior to this, two credits, both TV. That's about the caliber of this by-the-numbers Neo-noir "thriller" that's both not very thrilling and not very noir.Noir needs to be moody, atmospheric, and contain dialog with a snap and particular rhythm. China Moon's script appears to have been attempted after a cursory browsing of "Noir for Dummies." Yes, there's snappy patter...unfortunately it's all trite done-to-death snappy patter. There's virtually not one line I couldn't predict. When Harris and Stowe first meet, the exchange is wooden and you can sense the actors struggling futilely to make something original out of it.Ed Harris gives everyone his smoldering 500-yard stare but it's nothing he hasn't offered before in much better films. Stowe and he don't seem to connect on virtually any level, but with a script this bad there's nothing to draw sparks from. Benecio DelToro looks bored out of his mind, Pruitt Taylor Vince is completely wasted. This movie could have benefited from a more unknown, fresher cast. Sending these vets into this junior high knock-off production is a little like hiring Larry Olivier to star in your kid's school pageant.Virtually nothing in the plot comes as a surprise. You find yourself thinking "surely it's not this simple" only to be woefully disappointed. The "hook-line" here --- "Sooner or later they all f*** up" --- is so stale and stupid it's cringe-worthy. And the lame attempt at a tragic ending makes it more than mock-worthy....you have to have substantial investment in characters for a tragedy of this scale to really pay off. There's none of that here.Yeah, sooner or later.... In this case, for screenwriter Roy Carlson....MUCH sooner.

blanche-2 Ed Harris and Madeleine Stowe are underneath the temperamental "China Moon" in this 1994 film also starring Benicio del Toro. Harris and del Toro are Kyle Bodine and Lamar Dickey partner detectives with a Florida police department. One night at a bar, Kyle meets Rachel Munro (Stowe) and falls for her immediately. She's unhappily married and has photos of her husband (Charles Dance) with another woman. He doesn't know this at the time, and tracks her down. They start seeing one another. When her husband winds up dead, Kyle helps her to cover it up.Though the plot is derivative, this is a classily done film with terrific acting, sensual love scenes between the two leads, an easy pace and beautiful photography. It reminded me a little of "Body Heat." The plot won't be hard to figure out, but be prepared for a couple of twists.Ed Harris gives a forceful performance as Kyle, and del Toro is understated as Lamar. When the camera rests on Stowe, she's flawlessly beautiful, and what clothes! She gives an effective performance and has a nice chemistry with Harris."China Moon" is a small, meticulously done movie with loads of talent behind it. The story has been told many times, but somehow, if it's done well, it's always good for another encore.