''Slow Burn'' is a 2005 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Wayne Beach and starring

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primeti ...

Jolene Blalock Jolene Blalock (born March 5, 1975) is an American actress and model. She is best known for playing Vulcan first officer and science officer T'Pol on the UPN science-fiction series ''Star Trek: Enterprise''. Her other work includes guest-star ap ...

and

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

. It is notable for the extended period between production and eventual release. A crime drama, the film was produced in 2003, was finally given a showing at the 2005

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

, and finally got a proper theatrical release in 2007.

Plot

Nora Timmer, a biracial (African and European descent) woman, is being questioned by Ford Cole, the District Attorney. Nora, who is the Assistant District Attorney, claims she was being raped by Isaac Duparde when she shot him in the head. Journalist Ty Trippin interviews Ford; Ford surprises Ty by anticipating his first two questions. Nora explains to Ford that she had first met Isaac a week earlier at a music store, where he came on to her, asking to give her a ride on the rainy night. Nora politely rebuffed his advances, but was forced to accept his offer when she found herself stranded in the rain with no cab to respond to her calls. Issac locked the door to his car when Nora tried to exit upon reaching her home, only to give her a music cassette as a compliment. Nora tells Ford that Issac waited for her in her house one night, grabbed her from behind, and raped her. Luther Pinks, claiming to be an associate of Isaac, shows up to meet Ford and relates his version of the story, stating that Isaac's death was not self-defence, but murder. He states that Nora had seduced Isaac into falling in love and ultimately becoming obsessed with her. He tells Ford about an '

African violet ''Streptocarpus'' sect. ''Saintpaulia'' is a section within '' Streptocarpus'' subgenus ''Streptocarpella'' consisting of about ten species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent so ...

' tattoo on Nora's backside to support his claims. Ford tends to believe him, as he himself had seen it when he and Nora had sex. Isaac's home is set ablaze and Ford receives an odd voicemail from the deceased suggesting a conspiracy involving Nora. Later, Luther tells Ford of a deal Nora supposedly offered Isaac for his cousin who was recently booked on drug charges; if his aunt were to agree to sell her home to an interested party, his cousin would walk. Luther also reveals Nora's dirty little secret—that she isn't biracial but is using being a minority to benefit her career and to satisfy some strange obsession with being black.

Cast

as Ford Cole *

as Nora Timmer *

as Luther Pinks *

Mekhi Phifer Mekhi Phifer (; born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. He portrayed Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama '' ER'' until 2008 and had a co-starring role opposite actor/rapper Eminem in the 2002 feature film '' 8 Mile''. He was ...

as Isaac Duperde *

Taye Diggs Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs (born January 2, 1971) is an American stage and film actor. He is known for his roles in the Broadway musicals ''Rent'' and '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', the TV series ''Private Practice'' (2007-2013), ''Murder in the ...

as Jeffrey Sykes *

Bruce McGill Bruce Travis McGill (born July 11, 1950) is an American actor. He worked with director Michael Mann in the movies '' The Insider'' (1999), ''Ali'' (2001), and ''Collateral'' (2004). McGill's other notable film roles include Daniel Simpson "D-Day" ...

as Godfrey *

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy A ...

as Ty Trippin / Danny *

Guy Torry Guy Torry is an American actor and comedian. He is the brother of actor and comedian Joe Torry Joe Torry is an American actor and comedian. Filmography Film Television References External links * *Joe Torry's Giving Back the Love ...

as Chet Price

Release

It was released in American theaters on April 13, 2007, but performed poorly. It had an opening weekend of $778,123 in ticket sales and closed in just 2 weeks with a domestic total of $1,237,615 and $559,641 from foreign markets for a worldwide total of $1,797,256. It ranks among the top ten widely released films for having the biggest second weekend drop at the box office, dropping 84.7% from $676,048 to $91,748. The

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

was released in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

on July 24, 2007, and sold 44,720 units in the opening weekend, translating to revenue of $893,953. This does not include

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

sales rentals and sales tracking does not extend beyond the first week. The film has themes of inter-racial dating, "passing" or pretending to be a member of another race, stereotypes included, and using a rape defense to the accusation of murder.

Reception

''Slow Burn'' received negative reviews from critics. , the film holds a 12% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 34 reviews with an average rating of 3.63/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "With wooden acting and hammy, overheated dialogue, ''Slow Burn'' isn't so much a noir as it is a mediocre parody of one."

Novel

The

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

is based on a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by Wayne Beach and Anthony Walton. Wayne Beach converted the story to screenplay and directed the film.Tabouring, Franck (2007-04-17)
Slow Burn - Ray Liotta
Retrieved 2010-10-31.

References

External links

* * * * {{Mojo title, id=slowburn, title=Slow Burn 2005 films 2000s crime thriller films 2005 drama films 2005 independent films 2005 psychological thriller films American independent films Films based on short fiction Films scored by Jeff Rona Lionsgate films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films