CHINA MOON

Madeleine Stowe and Ed Harris 

CHINA MOON (1994). Director: John Bailey. 

Kyle Bodine (Ed Harris of National Treasure: Book of Secrets) is a detective working with a younger partner, Lamar (Benicio Del Toro of The Wolfman), and sort of showing him the ropes. Kyle meets an attractive woman named Rachel (Madeleine Stowe of Blink) and is at first unaware that she's married to an abusive and controlling husband, Rupert (Charles Dance of Alien 3). Kyle and Rachel begin a relationship, but there's a serious speedbump when Rupert winds up dead. Kyle risks his career by going to bat for Rachel without disclosing the affair to his superiors, but he doesn't realize that he is being seriously played by someone close to him.

Harris, Charles Dance, Del Toro

It's a wonder that China Moon ever got made. Its plot is over-familiar and whatever surprises it contains are not that jolting. The characters are one-dimensional, and the dialogue is flat. Although Charles Dance and Benicio Del Toro give effective and committed performances, I'm not certain what to make of the leads. I can be polite and say that Harris underplays, or was simply uninspired by the script -- no wonder -- but he's mediocre, as is Stowe. I'm not surprised that Stowe never had a major theatrical career as her presence is strictly small-scale, and works much better on television (in the TV series Revenge, for instance). If you're going to play a femme fatale, then play it for all it's worth, but Stowe never pulls out the stops. Her too-deep, unfeminine voice is no asset, either, although some people might have found it sexy. 

Verdict: Some films should never get beyond script stage. *1/2.  

BLINK

Aidan Quinn and Madeleine Stowe

BLINK (1994). Director: Michael Apted.

Emma Brody (Madeleine Stowe), a musician who has been blind since she was eight, has an operation to restore most of her sight. Her vision is still a bit fuzzy, and she has "flashbacks" to things that aren't really there. This doesn't make her the most reliable witness to the murder of an woman in an upstairs apartment. She fears that she's being stalked, but can't make a positive identification in a line-up. As the killer murders other women, Detective Hallstrom (Aidan Quinn) fears Emma will be next on the list. Blink is the kind of thriller in which the detective on the case has sex with the chief witness -- again and again and again -- which already stretches credibility, and it isn't helped by the fact that Hallstrom comes off like an incompetent asshole. Quinn [Frankenstein] does his best with this terrible part, but is defeated, while pretty Stowe gives an okay performance but generates all the warmth of a dyspeptic cobra. What a team! (This cold quality of Stowe's served her well when she played a scheming villainess on the TV show Revenge.) There are some clever aspects to the mystery angle of the story, including the killer's motive, but Blink has absolutely no style and little tension aside from a brief scene in an underground parking garage. Laurie Metcalf has virtually nothing to do as Emma's friend, but James Remar, Peter Friedman, and Paul Dillon have more of a chance to make an impression as a cop, doctor, and orderly respectively. This might have amounted to something if it had been helmed by Brian De Palma in his heyday, but the slack direction, dubious plot points, and moments of increasing ridiculousness do not add up to anything that memorable. It also becomes boring, the most unforgivable thing of all. Apted also directed The Triple Echo and The World is Not Enough.

Verdict: Not even nudity can save this one. **.