There are elements of Body Heat and No Way Out in this tale of"l'amour fou".Florida cop ,played by the ever reliable Ed Harris,is skilled at his job and dismissive of criminals who he feels usually foul up somewhere along the line He crosses paths with femme fatale Rachel(Madelaine Stowe) ,married to the abusive and philandering Rupert Munro(Charles Dance)and a relationship develops He finds himself drawn into covering up when she kills her husband but he soon becomes the prime suspect in the case.There is a twist ending I openly acknowledge I did not see coming

On the plus side are a clutch of strong performances,although Dance is quite dreadful,with an American accent that strays all over the place and goes missing altogether at times.I still shudder at the memory of his sheer woodenness as "Coriolanus "at Stratford some while back,and he should not be allowed within a country mile of a movie camera ever again.Harris subtly conveys the gradual coming apart of a cool,and proficient pro when in thrall to lust,and Stowe is never less than compelling even when as here the dialogue is a little cliche ridden.Del Toro shows why he has since gone on to better things The movie sat on the shelf a while and I guess was disinterred following Stowe's higher profile after The Last of the Mohicans and Blink I am glad they revived it since it is watchable and intriguing but Dance and a slight flatness in direction by John Bailey,whose work as cinematographer I admire plus the egregious Mr Dance see it marked down a tad in my estimation

A nice little thriller with a twist. Charles Dance wasted again, this time with the most ridiculous Southern accent. I like Ed Harris in just about anything, so he got me through this one. Stowe is good; I have also liked her in other movies where you have to pay attention to the dialog. I have lately discovered that del Toro has been around much longer than I realized - it is nice to see his early work as an indication of the presence he has on-screen. The comparisons to "Body Heat" are understandable - but I think this one stands on its own as one way to spend an evening with a movie that you actually watch to see what happens.