Slow Burn
by Christian Ford
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DVD details
Actor: Caprice Benedetti, Chris Mulkey, Minnie Driver, Nicole Fellows, Stuart Wilson (II)Director: Christian Ford
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-09-12
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
DVD Reviews of Slow Burn
DVD Review: Lust? Greed and Betrayal
Summary: 5 Stars
Since the Chinese has already written every plot known to man long before Europeans discovered the country, the fact that this movie is a remake of a classic does not detract from the impact of Slow Burn. Although the lust claim is a far, far cry from Body Heat, greed and betrayal abound.
Minnie Driver's character, Trina, is hunting (at any cost) for her great-grandmother's lost treasure. She is not the only person interested in the diamonds and the deadly history of the stones is delivered through flashbacks.
This film kept my interest, and at no time did I have to look away from the screen in disgust or allow for creative differences in the dialog. The setting reinforces the theme without distracting the viewer. Watching Slow Burn was an enjoyable movie break.
DVD Review: Lost treasure in the desert
Summary: 4 Stars
I loved this film from the first time I saw it. What is so compelling for me is the familiar Hollywood subject matter: lost treasure, lust, greed, obsession and death. I must have seen dozens of films of this genre and enjoyed every one: Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Makenna's Gold, The Deep, Indiana Jones 1,2&3. But this one stands out among the recent efforts, although on a more modest theatrical scale and budget. The natural landscape, photography and the settings are outstanding. The characterizations are vivid and interesting, but crazed, even by treasure hunter standards.
Mini Driver is a looker. She keeps the movie "cooking" as the central character through many unexpected turns. An enigmatic desert rat, she has been searching the hot dry Mexico desert alone for years, looking for the long lost family jewels. Needless to say they eventually turn up, but in the wrong hands.
The story line is a bit cumbersome and convoluted, but nothing to get upset about. I think the film requires that you suspend your disbelief for the duration. If it is reality you want, go find it elsewhere. I see it for what it really is: an age-old sourdough yarn like those spun around the campfire by the master storytellers of the age before television. That's pure entertainment, in my book.
DVD Review: I could slow burn with this movie.
Summary: 3 Stars
I will not spend time dissecting each action and try to compare this to a combination of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948), and "Legend of the Lost" (1957).
Trina (Minnie Driver) is treasure hunting at any cost. We see why through a series of flashbacks. Diamonds exchange hands a few times.
This film stands on it's own as a slow paced (which gives sagacity) interaction of cunning minds in a desolate area vying for a prize more important than the other person. You have seen it before and you will see it again; so sit back and enjoy this variation.
DVD Review: The Film Really Burns With Good Photography BUT Too Slowly
Summary: 2 Stars
Minnie Driver plays treasure-hunting Trina, whose motive is not so much her love for money or easy life as her obsession with getting back the diamonds her ancestors had been involved with for four generations, and as a result, the film is more like a character-based drama than a thriller or action (you can see very little of it). Trina keeps on searching the treasure in spite of herself and her elder friend Stuart Wilson, who tries to trace the vanished Trina in the desert of Mexico, in order to bring her back to better judgment.The confusing story of "Slow Burn" develops those settings above as follows; opposite Minnie Driver, we have a pair of unrecognizable James Spader (with very heavy accent) and Josh Brolin, both of whom accidentally hit the paydirt where the said treasure had been hidden for a long time. AND again Minnie Driver happens to pass them by, to find exactly what she wanted .... The far-fetched story doesn't have enough speed to make us forget the implausible things going on the screen, and in fact, the film burns with its good cinematography of the desert, but way too slowly. The middle part of it reminds us of "Treasure of Sierra Madre," but doesn't have enough driving power of actions or characters which this Huston - Bogart classic is endowed with.
The ironic ending, which is clearly inspired by that of the silent-film masterpiece "Greed" (with a caged bird and chained bodies), shows considerable momentum, greatly assisted by Wislon's performance and the good images of the scorching desert and sun, but it takes too much time to reach there. Moreover, the famous ending of "McTeague," the original book of "Greed," is recreated here, but the author Frank Norris provided us with a good reason for McTeague and his nemesis to act the way they did, which is not given sufficiently in this film. Why should they act, is never explained to convince us.
For Minnie Drivers' fans the film is a disappointment as the leading two cast, for all their efforts, seem miscast. Not that her the acting is bad; just she someshow shows she is acting the character she is not. Sorry for this harsh review, but I prefer Minnie in "Return to Me" very much.
The film is co-produced by Kate Driver (Minnie's sister) who is also responsible for the production of "Beautiful."
DVD Review: This one was slow!
Summary: 3 Stars
Just like the title, it was slow but it had its moments! I enjoy Minnie Driver's acting but I bought it because of Stuart Wilson who as usual, does such a superb job! I liked the story line but it seemed really "drawn out" to me. Thought it was never going to end. If you like Stuart Wilson, you'll still love this one as I did.
Description of Slow Burn
Minnie Driver produces and stars in this sometimes unusual but largely familiar and undercooked crime thriller, a project seemingly aimed at hardening her good-girl image with a touch of the femme fatale. She plays Trina, the surviving daughter of a couple who spent their lives searching the Mexican desert for a fortune in lost diamonds. What a shock when a pair of escaped convicts (James Spader, chewing on an accent that could make him Ratso Rizzo's long-lost son, and Josh Brolin) stumble onto her camp, dragging the treasure behind them. Completely obsessed with the diamonds, she turns ruthless in her pursuit--these boys are rank amateurs next to Driver's hardened schemer. Director-cowriter Christian Ford carves the film out of sharp, sun-blasted colors that seem to bleach out over the course of the film, but the script's blatant echoes of Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Greed (including characters named after author Frank Norris and Greed protagonist McTeague) never allow the film to establish its own identity. Brolin turns in a fine performance as a holy innocent on the wrong path, and Stuart Wilson is excellent as the narrator and Trina's desert-rat protector, an ambiguous, dangerous figure always on the periphery of the story. The story concludes in a clever climax of dark irony, but the rest of the film is less satisfying--not quite predictable but never very surprising. --Sean AxmakerGeneral DVDs
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