"China Moon" is a very good movie...at least if you've never seen "Body Heat". If you have, then you'll likely notice that the two films are practically the same in so many ways...too many. Both films involve a femme fatale getting their lover to help them kill their rich husbands. Both films are set in Florida. Both involve a lover who works with the court (in "Body Heat", he's a lawyer and in "China Moon", he's a cop). Both end up leaving the lover as the fall guy. And, both have nudity and violence so they probably aren't great films to show your kids.

For the most part, "Body Heat" is a better film. However, I did really like Ed Harris in "China Moon" as the lover...he did a great job, as you'd expect.

CHINA MOON is a rather unimpressive addition to the wave of 'erotic thrillers' that were doing the rounds in the early 1990s. This one has a decent cast but a disappointing plot which feels lightweight and padded out. Madeleine Stowe stars as a bored and frustrated housewife, at the mercy of her cruel husband (a delightfully nasty Charles Dance, struggling a bit with the American accent),who meets and falls for Ed Harris, the rugged cop who comes into her life. A murderous plot development ensues, and the film becomes a police procedural thriller from that point on. The cast members work hard to add some credibility to this story, but I didn't really buy it, and that last twist is frankly unbelievable. Still, it's worth a look to see Harris on strong form, and a youthful Benicio del Toro makes an impression too.

Kyle Bodine (Ed Harris) is the lead detective teaching less experienced Lamar Dickey (Benicio del Toro). Kyle is taken with Rachel Munro (Madeleine Stowe). She had hired a private eye to take pictures of her wealthy banker husband Rupert Munro (Charles Dance) cheating. Rachel buys a gun and starts a romance with Kyle. Kyle and Lamar are called in on a domestic abuse at the Munros. While Kyle is helping her leave her abusive husband, she shoots him in self-defense. She fears the perception of her unregistered gun and no witnesses. She convinces Kyle to help her cover up the killing. Kyle and Lamar investigate the missing Monro. Lamar finds surprising new evidences seeming to point to Kyle.

This is very much by the book hard-boiled thriller. The movie moves a bit too slowly for the first half. It needs to start with Kyle and Rachel already in a heated romance. There's no need to waste time developing the chemistry. These are great actors able to sell an already heated romance. They need to get to the killing faster. The tension is all in the cover-up. It's basically a 40 minute setup. This is a bit slow and the tension is not high until the second half. However it has great actors and they keep the movie going.