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With: Terrence Howard, Esai Morales, Nicky Whelan, Alec Baldwin
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Written by: Rich Ronat
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Directed by: RJ Collins
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MPAA Rating: R for violence, grisly images, language throughout and sexual content
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Running Time: 103
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Date: 08/16/2024
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Killing Moon
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
RJ Collins's Crescent City ranks a couple of notches above other B-movie thrillers of its ilk, thanks to the cast putting in a little extra effort, but unfortunately, the pacing and plotting are nonsensical and monotonous.
A serial killer is on the loose; the killer seems to be luring users of a sex website to their dooms. Little Rock police detective and church-going family man Brian (Terrence Howard) is haunted by the accidental death of a young man and has been having panic attacks. His partner Luke (Esai Morales) is fond of picking up women in bars and having meaningless sex. They are assigned a new partner, Jaclyn Waters (Nicky Whelan), and, following up on a tip, they find the latest victim.
Jaclyn poses as a victim to trap the killer, but he gets away. Things get complicated when the partners learn that Jaclyn is actually Internal Affairs, and things get more complicated when it's revealed that Jaclyn and Brian have been having an affair. Then, in a turn of events, a new clue points to Brian as the guilty one. Can Brian clear his name and solve the puzzle?
Even Alec Baldwin — who probably only filmed for a day or two just to pick up a paycheck — is formidable as the police captain in Crescent City, summoning underlings to his office to bark at them and assign them a new partner. ("See? She's a f--kin' genius. She already agrees with me.")
One-time Oscar nominee Howard (Hustle & Flow) taps into his innate vulnerability to play the suffering Brian, dealing with too many things coming at him at once. And Morales (best remembered for his powerful performance as Ritchie Valens's older brother in La Bamba) is back in full force using his steely eyes to command a room. The two together conjure a shared history as longtime friends and partners.
Even Whelan, who was probably hired more for decoration than character, is inspired and steps up to match her co-stars. And for a long time, it looks as if the movie might work. But then it starts to fall apart. Essential plot reveals become clogged with wrongheaded choices, then increasingly glaring logic holes, and finally a ridiculous and lazy denouncement that has been plucked from dozens of other movies. The cast showed up to Crescent City ready to work, but the movie apparently wasn't quite ready for them.
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