Call this one "Body Heat Lite."
"China Moon" stars Ed Harris as the Sherlock Holmes of Florida homicide detectives. In an early scene, we see Harris using his amazing powers of deduction to figure out a crime scene, which his young partner (Benicio Del Toro) has incorrectly diagnosed.
The plot kicks into gear when Harris is quickly seduced by sultry Madeleine Stowe, whom he meets outside a bar — a moment that very specifically brings "Body Heat" to mind.
Meanwhile, Stowe is married to a wealthy, abusive banker (Charles Dance, an English actor doing the worst Southern accent since Michael Caine in "Hurry Sundown"), and shortly into her affair with Harris, she suggests how much happier life would be without Dance on the planet.
Naturally, Harris thinks she's just stressed out. But eventually she does shoot her husband, though apparently in self-defense. Rather than have her confess and go for a self-defense plea, however, Harris uses his ability to solve crimes to help Stowe cover this one up.
And doggone if Del Toro hasn't been learning from Harris, perhaps a bit too well. He's picking up subtle clues in the murder case that are beginning to lead him directly to Harris as the prime suspect.
Of course, since Harris is in love, it never occurs to him that Stowe might have set him up in order to get that kind of assistance. And, in the end, there is a surprising twist. But surprising is not the same as satisfying.
The by-the-numbers screenplay is by Roy Carlson, who also wrote the recent HBO film noir thriller "The Wrong Man." And first-time director John Bailey is better known as an accomplished cinematographer ("Mishima," which won him a prize at the Cannes Film Festival, "Groundhog Day," "In the Line of Fire").
"China Moon" is attractive, both in terms of its cast (this was filmed a couple of years ago, before Stowe hit it big with "Last of the Mohicans") and its gorgeous cinematography (by veteran European cinematographer Willy Kurant). But it's apparent that Carlson and Bailey have seen too many other movies, and "China Moon" never takes on a life of its own.
The film is rated R for violence, gore, profanity, a nude scene and implied sex.