In director/writer Wayne Beach's neo-noir thriller, SLOW BURN, various characters on both sides of the law collide in an unnamed city. District Attorney Ford Cole (Ray Liotta) is campaigning to become mayor, but his assistant D.A. and lover, Nora Timmer (a sultry Jolene Blalock, best known... [More]

In director/writer Wayne Beach's neo-noir thriller, SLOW BURN, various characters on both sides of the law collide in an unnamed city. District Attorney Ford Cole (Ray Liotta) is campaigning to become mayor, but his assistant D.A. and lover, Nora Timmer (a sultry Jolene Blalock, best known for her stint on the STAR TREK series ENTERPRISE), finds herself implicated in the murder of a record-store employee (Mekhi Phifer), seriously jeopardizing her boss's bid. As evidence about the incident comes to light, other suspects surface, including the mysterious Luther Pinks (LL Cool J, born James Todd Smith), along with a determined reporter (Chiwetel Ejiofor), creating a complex web of deceit. Filmed in 2003 but not officially released until 2007, SLOW BURN may have best been showcased as a TV movie, but its considerable star power (Liotta, Smith, etc.) helps to elevate it above similar small-screen fare. Beach is a veteran screenwriter (with THE ART OF WAR and MURDER AT 1600, both starring Wesley Snipes, on his resume), Beach clearly knows how to set up a suspenseful mystery, and his impressive cast (which includes always-outstanding character actors Ejiofor and Bruce McGill) gamely follows his twists and turns. Although the movie is heavily indebted to THE USUAL SUSPECTS it stands on its own as a decent, if convoluted, crime drama. [Less]