Homicide Det. Kyle Bodine (Ed Harris) is a veteran of the force who knows the ins and outs of every crime scene. He meets the beautiful and mysterious Rachel (Madeline Stowe), and they begin a steamy relationship. But then he finds out she's married to a rich banker called Rupert (Charles Dance) who's a serial
adulterer and wife beater. During a particularly heated confrontation with her husband, Rachel shoots and kills Rupert in self defense and then persuades Kyle to assist her in disposing of the body and covering up the evidence of what has happened. Kyle carries out these tasks with his usual efficiency but problems arise when the body is discovered and his rookie partner Lamar Dickey (Benicio del Toro) discovers some clues which lead to the finger of suspicion being pointed at Kyle. There are enough twists and turns to keep you off-balance in this story of passion, treachery and murder. The comparisons to "Body Heat," "No Way out" and "Double Indemnity" are understandable but the joy I get in watching films of this genre is trying to predict how things are going to go wrong and there was a twist ending I openly acknowledge I did not see coming. Early in the film the veteran Harris chastises his young partner for not being observant. I guess I too was not paying attention to the small details lol.
February 6, 2011
