Matcollis
This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Whitech
It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.
InformationRap
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Roland E. Zwick
In the opening scene of "Slow Burn," an assistant district attorney (Jolene Blalock) is found wandering the streets of the city, disheveled and confused, informing those who find her that she has just killed a rapist in self defense. The alleged attacker (Mekhi Phifer) was a man she supposedly met one night in a record store and who then proceeded to stalk her for weeks thereafter. Suddenly, into the head D.A.'s office strides LL Cool J, as a friend of the deceased who has a considerably different story to tell about the events leading up to the murder as well as an entirely disparate take on the couple's relationship. Things get even more dicey when we discover that the D.A. (Ray Liotta) and the assistant D.A. have been conducting a torrid affair of their own for a number of years now."Slow Burn" fails on so many levels of rudimentary storytelling and film-making that it's hard to know where exactly to begin in compiling a list of its shortcomings. To start with, there's something inherently self-defeating and pointless in constructing a narrative from two widely conflicting viewpoints - a la "Rashomon" - when one of the supposed eyewitnesses is already dead and, thus, unable to personally relate his side of the story. How does it enhance the verisimilitude of the tale if most of our information has to come filtered down to us through a secondhand source, a person who wasn't even present at the events he's describing - unless, of course, he was hiding in a nearby closet during all those "intimate" moments he is able to recount in such juicy and exhaustive detail? Either that or the murder victim was one of the chattiest, kiss-and-tell gossips in the history of the movies. And why does it take till the closing reels for the supposedly intelligent professional investigators to smell a rat in that setup? Eventually, the twist-and-turn plotting leads to so much incoherence and confusion that you might well wonder if the filmmakers themselves understood what it was they were doing.Beyond the clumsy, inscrutable storytelling, "Slow Burn" also suffers from some of the most overripe dialogue this side of "The Black Dahlia." With such knee-slapping howlers as "She stood there like a tangerine, ripe and ready to be peeled" and "She walked in smelling like mashed potatoes and every guy within thirty feet wanted to be the gravy," the script could easily win First Prize in a Bad Film Noir Writing contest. It's hard to believe at such times that the film isn't actually intended to be a parody (the acting sure suggests it on occasion). On second thought, perhaps it would be best to stick with that notion; it just might go down easier that way.
chersck
If you didn't like it or if you thought it was anything at all like Usual Supsects, you probably didn't get it.Everything up to the last twenty minutes is set-up. The key is to concentrate, but not to think too much. You'll either get it or you won't The mastermind was not Danny, it was the assistant DA, "Jackie". She was playing Danny. It's my belief that she was also an FBI agent. She was, as LL's character hinted when he said that even the FBI had been penetrated, the dirty FBI agent.She was pretending to be black, as she new this would get Danny's attention and make him believe she could be manipulated. She made Danny feel comfortable enough to give her information about rival gangs which she used to propel herself into the DA's office putting her in a perfect spot to manipulate Ray Liotta's character.LL Cool J was an FBI agent, although he was not dirty. The chief of police was in on the whole deal with Jackie as he was the one who let her out in the end.Jackie decided not to press charges against Taye diggs' character as to draw suspicion towards him in the end. She also new he would point out anybody as Danny. That was imperative as it set-up LL's character.She set-up the hit men who wanted Ray's character dead. She pointed Mekhi's character out as Rupert. Rupert was the one who rigged the gas explosion.After Danny got arrested, everything went on to her.The key is to remember that the main plot had little to do with Jolene's character being raped, and it had little to do with LL's character.
cmabrey-2
At first the movie seemed like an excuse for a soft porn movie. The only reason I stayed with it was because the acting was pretty good. Later it evolves into an interesting, twisted who's it. So in the end, I'm glad I stayed with it.In a movie this complicated, I am sure there are some loose ends, but I thought they did a good job of tying things together in the end.I was OK with the flashbacks and plot twists, but I am probably not your average viewer. It is true you have to pay attention to keep everything straight. If you don't like to stay with a film, it may not be the film for you.They do keep you guessing to the end.
samone2
There are some movies that if you do not just hand feed the audience, they assume that it is boring. Slow Burn has a lot of twist and turns the movie is to be taken just as the title "Slow Burn". I enjoyed it and have watched it 3 times. The first time, I was involved with doing something else and when I would glance up, I was like oh, okay. But, you actually need to sit down and really get into this movie. Action good, plot is good. There are a couple of underlying plots that you have to watch for. You have all the things needed that people request, drug lord, corruption, love, and sex. As the plots thickens, the viewer should attempt to pull the plots away from each other. Just relax, let the movie take its course. Girls you have some of the top good looking men in the movie that's a plus. There are some up and comings in the movie, that with a few more times, they will survive on their on.