The film classic `Double Indemnity' has become a template for dozens of movies. A woman is involved in an abusive and/or loveless marriage. She meets a man, and they begin to have an affair. She tells him how miserable she is in the marriage, and he agrees to help her murder her husband. The man believes he is skilled enough to cover up the crime. But then the cover-up begins to unravel.
Part of the joy of watching films of this genre is trying to predict how things are going to go wrong, and whether the wife (who almost always stands to inherit a fortune after her husband dies) will eventually betray her lover.
`China Moon' follows this formula except for two deviations. The wife (played by Madeleine Stowe) alone kills the husband (Charles Dance, in another example of a British actor trying to use a Southern accent, and sounding ridiculous). The lover (a detective played by the always good Ed Harris) doesn't kill the husband, but he does agree to cover up the crime. But more importantly there is a plot twist toward the end of the film that is unbelievable and sends the film off in the wrong direction.
The movie would have been better served if it had followed the template and instead played off the a relationship between Harris and his partner, played by Benicio Del Toro. Early in the film the veteran Harris chastises his young partner for not being observant. A better plot line would have been for Del Toro to prove his partner wrong.
Part of the joy of watching films of this genre is trying to predict how things are going to go wrong, and whether the wife (who almost always stands to inherit a fortune after her husband dies) will eventually betray her lover.
`China Moon' follows this formula except for two deviations. The wife (played by Madeleine Stowe) alone kills the husband (Charles Dance, in another example of a British actor trying to use a Southern accent, and sounding ridiculous). The lover (a detective played by the always good Ed Harris) doesn't kill the husband, but he does agree to cover up the crime. But more importantly there is a plot twist toward the end of the film that is unbelievable and sends the film off in the wrong direction.
The movie would have been better served if it had followed the template and instead played off the a relationship between Harris and his partner, played by Benicio Del Toro. Early in the film the veteran Harris chastises his young partner for not being observant. A better plot line would have been for Del Toro to prove his partner wrong.