Overrated and overhyped

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

China Moon is directed by John Bailey and written by Roy Carlson. It stars Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe, Benicio del Toro, Charles Dance and Patricia Healy. Music is by George Fenton and cinematography by Willy Kurant.To be kind since China Moon is a very good film in its own right, that is for lovers of film noir and its off shoot neo-noir, it's a film where its only crime is not being as great as previous instalments of noirs classic era and neo. Story treads deliciously familiar ground, where Harris' intrepid cop falls deep for Stowe's sultry babe and before he can say " I would do anything for you", he's in it up to his neck.In true noir fashion there's a twisty road to be navigated, nothing is as it at first seems, with hidden agendas, shifty shenanigans and emotional turmoil all playing a hand. The police procedural aspect intrigues greatly, with the devilish kicker of Harris investigating himself, while the intricacies of crime investigation - such as bullet science - is not given short shrift.As a mood piece it scores high, the sweaty Florida settings ripe for Bailey (a cinematographer by trade) to mix a bit of poetic ambiance with misty shimmers, rainy bleakness and colour coded criminality that's not detrimental to true noir essence. Perfs are from the higher end of the scale, and the makers add enough original touches of their own so as to not let this become a pointless retread. Closing superbly with a double whammy finale, China Moon is one that film noir lovers should sample. 7/10

A Strong Trio of Actors, Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe, and Benicio Del Toro are the Force Behind This Fairly Conventional Neo-Noir. What is Lacking is Style. Film Noir and its Modern Evolution Neo-Noir are at Their Best When They Contain an Amount of High-Style to Punch the Plot of Deception, Lust, Etc.In This One , the Story is Pedestrian and the Movie is Virtually Without Much Beyond a Few Night and Rainy Shots that are Certainly Noir's Template. But the Acting is So Strong it Involves from the Beginning and the Audience is Engaged with These Characters. A Twisted Ending is a Bit Heavy Handed and Some of the Important Plot Points Involving Switcheroos are Glossed Over Too Hurriedly and Lose Some Impact. But Overall the Movie is Worth a Watch for the Always Interesting Noir Sensibilities and the Magnetic Actors. It's Mid-Range Neo-Noir, Neither One of the Best Nor One of the Worst.

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.

First of all, the acting was great. Ed Harris was just plain wonderful. While I don't require perfect realism or logic and understand the noir conventions that rely on twists and coincidences,this movie is hurt by inconsistencies that happen because of inconsistent application of intelligence. Kyle is smart and not a noir chump. He isn't brought down by accidents or because he is just too dim to figure things out. Kyle just acts dumb and/or unobservant sometimes and that is hard to buy into. Had the script relied on something other than Kyle's uneven smarts, this could easily have rated an 8 or 9 just on the strength of Ed Harris' eye contact with Ms. Stowe.