SLOW BURN

"You are Danny Mercer"

District attorney Ford Cole (Liotta) is about to run of mayor but a single crime lord stands in his way of making the city a better place. When his best prosecutor Nora Timmer (Blalock) is accused of murdering Isaac Duperde (Phifer) in self defence after he raped her, Ford's investigation takes a turn for the worse when Luther Pinks (Cool J) reveals that his friend Isaac wasn't the stalker Nora made him out to be but her loved and her connection to the criminal underworld.

 

Crime based thrillers that twist and turn have seen a resurgence over the last decade but can 'Slow Burn' make an impact in this already backed genre?

The success of movies like 'The Usual Suspects' and 'LA Confidential' in the 90s re-ignited the interest in crime thrillers with a twist. Organised crime has always been a fascination of Hollywood, with larger than life characters playing gangsters in a very stereotypical way. Modern audiences however are now asking more of their screenplay and don't want to have the obvious plotline of seeing the Godfather of crime getting his comeuppance at the end of the film. Now they want to play detective along with our hero, with the mob boss been elusive or even unknown until the final, big reveal.

This is the approach that 'Slow Burn' takes and while it might not have the same impact as some of its more illustrious bedfellows. The story of District Attorney Ford Cole and his continuing fight against the city big and most elusive crime boss Danny Mercer, is one that tries to take you on a twisting and turning ride. With red herring and misdirection throughout, the film takes place after the body of Isaac Duperde is found in the bed of Assistant District Attorney Nora Timmer, the city's chief prosecutor in gangland cases. As Nora pleads her innocence claiming self-defence, saying he was stalking her, broke into her house and raped her, a witness Luther Pinks says that the two were in a relationship and she was using him to get close to Danny Mercer or may even be working for the mythical crime boss.

Filmed back in 2003 and having an extremely limited release at the box office in 2007, the mystery is way the film has taken so long to see the light of day. With a strong cast including good performances from Ray Liotta, LL Cool J, Mekhi Phifer, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Taye Diggs and Jolene Blalock and a plot that plays on the popular conceptions of the genre, we will never know why this movie took so long to be released, as there is much to enjoy here. Ray Liotta gives his best performance for a long time as he continues to still try and surpass his turn in 'Goodfellas'. LL Cool J shows again that he is an actor as well as a rap star. Mekhi Phifer is good, British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor continues to make inroads into Hollywood and Jolene Blalock makes the move from the small screen to the big screen with ease as Nora Timmer.

'Slow Burn' is a good thriller that will capture you attention from start to finish. While it might not be the most original film in the genre, the twist and turns are good enough to keep you guessing and the big reveal isn't as predictable as you might have thought. The mystery is why it took so long to be released.

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2007