Slow Burn - Seductive Trap - DVD

Movie: District Attorney Ford Cole (Ray Liotta) is about to run for mayor. To polish up his image, he has renowned reporter Ty Trippin (Chiwetel Ejiofor) accompany him for a report. But now, of all times, something happens that Cole doesn't need the press around: his assistant Nora Timmer (Jolene Blalock) has shot a man - supposedly in self-defense. Nora claims Isaac Duperde (Mekhi Phifer) tried to rape her. All evidence points to Nora's testimony. But then shady Luther Pinks (LL Cool J) shows up, claiming Nora and Isaac had been a couple for months and that she had been dragging him into shady dealings. The longer Cole interrogates Pinks and Nora, the more doubt he begins to have about his assistant's story. And since notorious crime boss Danny Luton, who the DA is determined to bring down, also seems to have his fingers in the pie, Cole won't let up. He must solve this case as quickly as possible - whatever the cost.

Slow Burn is very reminiscent of the award-winning thriller The Usual Suspects in terms of its structure. Whereas there the notorious Keyser Söze, whose identity remains hidden until the end, stands like an ominous shadow over everything, here it is the mysterious and overpowering gangster boss Danny Luton. Those familiar with Barry Singer's award-winning film won't be too surprised when Danny Luton finally reveals himself at the end. Until that happens, Slow Burn delivers thoroughly solid crime entertainment, while the whole thing always remains on the level of good TV movies.

With Ray Liotta, Chiwetel Ejiofor or LL Cool J, the film is well cast, but the script hardly offers the actors the opportunity to fully play out their acting skills. Director and writer Wayne Beach relies too much on familiar set pieces of the genre and tries to give the whole thing a depth of content with discussions about racism and corruption, but in the end the film can never really play out. The obvious weaknesses should then be covered with a pinch of eroticism, which succeeds, however, only to some extent.

So Slow Burn always remains on a decent level, but can never grow beyond it even with its many twists and turns towards the end. If that's enough for you, you'll be quite entertained here. But who prefers to be entertained on a higher level of suspense, will hardly be caught by this seductive trap.

Picture + Sound: As only a data-reduced press sample was available for the test, no rating can be given here about the picture and sound quality of the DVD.

Extras: Except for the original trailer and a trailer show of the provider, there is unfortunately no further bonus material on the DVD.

Conclusion:Slow Burn is a solid thriller that seems a bit like the little brother of The Usual Suspects, without admittedly ever reaching its class. The cast and the quite well built up suspense make sure that all those viewers who like neatly staged US thrillers can definitely give this one a look

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp