Good movie but grossly overrated

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This little budget film concerns a a couple of American young (Chris Mulkey and Benedetti) with a little girl named Trina are searching for a familiar heritage what were lost in a Mexican steam desert when their grandmother died . But the Trina's parents are mysteriously deceased and she (Minnie Driver) , one time grown , goes on the search a box of missing diamonds against the advice of Frank (Stuart Wilson), an old parents friend . Meanwhile, Trina looks around , the treasure has already been found by two escaped convicts (James Spader, Josh Brolin) and take Trina hostage and steal her car . When the car is crashed , Trina attempts to dupe both cons against one another and so she can catch the valuable stash of diamonds . Then they're forced to struggle for stay alive , with no water, in a desperate quest for survival.This is a predictable adventure involving valuable diamond smuggling , it is an intriguing story that contains lust , ambition and betrayal . Packs suspense , thrills , ending twists and a little bit of action . Recounts the life survival story of a trio along a remote desert . But the director doesn't focuses totally on desperate quest for survival , choosing instead to focus on all aspects about ambition , lust and greed and including a brief psychological studio . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Christian Ford in his first and only one movie . He's usually writer for TV Sci-Fi movies (Star Trek : Deep space nine , Category 7: The end of the world , Final days of Planet Earth) and comedy (Kazaan). Rating : Average though entertaining .

Underrated indy film. Solid story and fascinating characters. Many elements obviously borrowed from forgotten Frank Norris classic, McTeague, first published in 1899. The Norris novel was the basis for 1925 silent classic Greed, directed by Erich von Stroheim. Greed is generally considered one of the best films ever though the nine hour original and witnesses are long gone. With respect to Slow Burn, I enjoyed watching one aspect of human nature, namely greed, play out under the blazing sun.

The plot is not what brings your focus to bear with this film - it is the absolutely horrible acting performances of the players. James Spader's agent should spend significant resources to pass the rumour that he didn't have a part in this film (he's practically unrecognizable anyway); Minnie Driver's contribution is in the body part only league; and Josh Brolin should not give up his day job. In particular, the language accents taken on by Driver & Brolin are forced, stereotypical, and false. In fact, for me, the disastrous lack of some kind of sanity in the plotline coupled with loser performances of Driver and Brolin made the desert scenes the most interesting part of the film. Spader is a fine actor who just doesn't need this kind of drivel on his record. Scale of 0-10: a 2 for Spader and the desert scenes.

Two of the best films with the searing for lost gems(or whatever) ' were The Treasure of Sierra madre & Lust For Gold Slowburn is nearly in the same league as those.(No film will ever be as good as the 2 above titles) Against a sun bleached background we find Minnie Driver in her search for an ancestors catch of diamonds that were lost in a sand dune, many years earlier. James Spader & Josh Brolin are 2 escaped dim witted convicts who now are involved in the search. Stuart Wilson is the 4th member of this cast who was involved with Minnies mother. So for over 90 minutes, we have greed, lust danger & all the other instrumnets to make an excellent film Granted I am very partial to this type of movie the acting by all is top draw & the entire production is first rate/ Rent this film, I am sure you will like it may rating is **** as always jay harris