Viewed in
2012
Formats
HDTV
Premise
William Hurt stars as a sleazy lawyer who falls for femme fatale Kathleen Turner. Together they decide to murder her rich husband.
Loved
Pretty much everything, especially the leads.
Thoughts
Sometimes it's just plain entertaining to watch bad people do bad things to each other.
This was probably the last great film noir to come out. (My favorite film, Dark City had elements, but it's far from being pure noir.) The only flick of its kind that could touch it would be Double Indemnity. It had everything you expect. Sexy broads, shady characters, sultry flirtations, double-crossings, unexpected twists, suspenseful murderous moments, distinct score, and plenty of night shoots when morality goes to sleep. The only things absent were the hard shadows and main character voice overs. I didn't miss either in this case.
I always thought Faye Dunaway was the reigning queen of that era, now I'm no longer sure. Good googly moogly, did Kathleen Turner amp up the sexy in this film! Every curve, every innuendo, every look, every feign made me weak in the knees and hard in the... never mind. The first flirtatious twenty minutes with William Hurt were just pitch perfect in dialog, performance and execution. I could watch that section on a loop forever.
As for Hurt, he ain't no slouch either. Completely believable as a sleazy womanizer, yet able to be Turner's (near) equal without being a dick. I don't know what the secret was, aside from writing and acting, but somehow the film was able to create two shady, yet totally memorable and lovable leads.
The rest of the cast was excellent, and quite amusing. I had never seen a non-white-haired Ted Danson before. Nor had I ever seen a svelte, handsome, and smooth-skinned Mickey Rourke prior to this.
Body Heat was more than just a great exercise in style and acting. The story was very intriguing, full of well-timed reveals and twists. I thought it would be the standard kill-the-rich-husband-but-it-gets-messy tale, but the third act was juicy. Another great aspect was its timelessness. Even the old school telephones gave it a time and place that was familiar to the genre. Nothing else, not even the pace, felt outdated. My only complaint of the story was the resolution, when I think they tried too hard, and I'm not sure if everything made sense while watching.
A must-see for film buffs and film noir fans, this masterpiece was one of the best of its decade, thanks to its seduction, subterfuge, style, and story.
