China moon

Year of release : 1994

 

Run time : 1h35min

 

Genre : Thriller / Mystery / Neo Noir

 

Cast : Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe, Benicio del Toro, Charles Dance

 

 

Detectives Kyle Bodine and Lamar Dickey investigate a murder scene, Bodine telling Dickey that all murderers make mistakes,and that's how they get caught.

 

Bodine meets Rachel at his favorite bar. He hits on her but she is not interested.

Rachel is married to a wealthy banker who seems to have a temper. And an affair with one of his colleagues. So she decides to give into Bodine, as he finds out who she is, and is trying to get her to go out with him.

 

Not long after, he and his partner are called to Rachel's place, on a domestic disturbance complaint. Bodine finds Rachel bruised up, while her husband says it's nothing. He warns him to never hit her again. The same night Rachel drives to Bodine's house telling him about how she wished he was dead,when he asks her to get a divorce. She even says she could go to Miami one night,come back and do it, and no one would know. What do you think happens right after ? She does that very same thing, just that, she first goes by Bodine's place, getting him involved .

 

When faced with her husband's dead body, Bodine has a choice to make, call the police or help the woman he loves. What will he do? Does the voice of reason win over the heart?

 

I personally enjoyed the movie, it doesn't miss a beat. It starts by letting us get to know the lead and his young partner, how good he is at his job, and the fact that maybe he annoys his partner with the things he says to him.

Rachel is a bit of a mystery, we see her with her husband, but we see only what she wants us to see. At the end of the movie we get to see how much of her we saw, if she was honest with Bodine or not.

 

The movie was filmed in 1991, but kept on the shelf for 3 years before its release.

 

The name of the movie comes from something Bodine says when he goes out on the lake with Rachel,that his grandmother said that when the moon is full and big like that, it looks like a China plate.

 

The actors were good.

 

The soundtrack at times sounded fine, at times it had the saxophone which to me didn't match. I liked the song they played in the bar when they meet.

 

Viewer discretion is advised, as the movie contains nudity.

 

You can watch the full movie here, for free : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFJiR3gTx_k&t=532s&ab_channel=KahnYamakan

 

Rating : Worth a watch !