Review of Slow Burn (2000) by Jeff B — 09 Aug 2010
A fascinating failure, this stylish and noirish Rashomon meets The Usual Suspects ultimately proves to be gunpowder in a thimble, more Who-Done-What? than Who-Done-It? Too dense for its running time, Slow Burn feels like it could have been expanded into an intense pay-cable series a la The Wire and The Shield.
In the R-rated Slow Burn, Liotta plays a mayoral election-seeking D.A. who finds himself entangled in controversy after his beautiful assistant D.A. (Jolene Blalock) confesses to a race-related killing.
Not for lack of trying, the B-list ensemble gives it their all. Such a loaded hot potato reminds this reviewer of programs like Crash where an issue-driven movie premise got blown up into a 12-episode season of televised drama. Unfortunately, Slow Burn puts a cap on such potential and the under-developed drama just plain burns out. Without the proper time and attention, the short-fused plot comes across more far-fetched than fetching.
Bottom line: Too big for its britches.
This review of Slow Burn (2000) was written by Jeff B on 09 Aug 2010.
Slow Burn has generally received mixed reviews.
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