Retrospective: Body Heat (1981)
Dennis Schwartz
editor: Carol Littleton; cast: William Hurt (Ned Racine), Kathleen Turner (Matty
Walker), Richard Crenna (Edmund Walker), Ted Danson (Peter Lowenstein), Mickey
Rourke (Teddy Lewis ), J. A. Preston (Oscar Grace), Carola McGuinness (Heather
Kraft), Lanna Saunders (Mrs. Kraft), Michael Ryan (Miles Harding); Runtime: 113;
Warner Brothers/Ladd; 1981)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A stylish but somewhat unsatisfying copy-cat film from the film noir of the
1940s (especially ripping off Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity--from the femme
fatale hatching the murder plan to the hooked guy perfecting how to carry out
the murder). It seems as if the sheer joy of that era's B-film conventions were
sucked out of it by this cleverly plotted story. It's a complete imitation of
that genre--from the femme fatale to the lustful protagonist who is betrayed and
gets trapped by his narrow visions and miscalculations about society. It plays
as if I saw this film before, as even its surprise ending is more uncomfortable
to view than anything else.
The best line in the film is uttered by the curvaceous sexpot, Matty Walker
(Turner), who despite being married lures the panting local, small-town Miranda
Beach, Florida, screw up lawyer, a seedy but slick looking bachelor in his
thirties who thrives on being a womanizer, Ned Racine (Hurt). She says upon
meeting him on a hot and sticky night, while clad in a revealing white dress,
while leaning on a rail by a bandstand at the pier: "You're not too smart, I
like that in a man." She then precedes to talk dirty with him, have steamy sex
with him, and up the ante of their relationship by telling him how much she
despises her wealthy but shady businessman husband, Edward Walker (Crenna), whom
she says: "He's small... and mean... and weak." Instead of keeping her husband,
she says she wouldn't mind having him in her bed for good. After about a month
of this torrid affair, she moves in for the kill and gets the pussy-whipped Ned
to murder her husband in what is supposed to be the "perfect crime." Whereby he
kills him in his luxurious Pinehaven house in a gruesome manner and then dumps
his body in a abandoned beachfront club The Breakers that's torched and the
crime is made to look like his scheming real-estate partners might be involved
with it. He does this all in the name of greed and lust, as his expectation is
of them living happily together ever after on the inheritance she will collect.
After the murder, Ned's pal Oscar Grace (Preston), an ethical cop, tells him
that Matty is a suspect and that he should stay away from her: She's trouble.
More than what you can handle. His other best friend is Assistant D.A. Peter
Lowenstein (Danson), who is not that ethical and who enjoys hearing about his
friend's affairs as he lives vicariously off them. He apprises him of the
ongoing D. A. investigation and of how foul play is suspected, as Ned knows all
along that the authorities know a murder has been committed and will fully
investigate it.
Ned first realizes something is wrong and he might be setup to be betrayed by
his partner, when the will he slightly revised in secret from her husband is
considered invalid because of a technicality of the signature of a witness who
can't be located. The spouse in that case collects the entire contents of the
will and will not have to share it with the deceased's sister (Saunders) as it
was originally written. This kind of incompetency happened before to Ned.
Investigators are also troubled that Walker's glasses were not worn when he was
found, while he's afraid that his fingerprints on the glasses would implicate
him in the crime. He feels unsure of what to do when Matty says she paid
blackmail to her fired housekeeper to find out where they are and asks him to
get them for her at the boathouse. But he makes the fatal mistake of asking her
to get them.
This leads to the troubling conclusion, where Ned walks into one more trap by
the woman who swears she loves him. It's an ending that seemed too pat for all
the humidity and body heat generated in this very weather conscious flick, that
goes overboard on its excesses and on how someone could go from a lustful sex
relationship to murder without batting an eye. Just because Turner's a hot
number, doesn't mean that Hurt should become a killer for the cold-hearted woman
and be so blinded by what he's doing. But that is what the viewer must believe
happened to him, that he was thinking only with his dick.
This was Turner's film debut and she uses her sexual role to the utmost and
makes the most of it. Mickey Rourke had a small role as a convicted arsonist and
client and friend and adviser to Hurt, who wisely tells him not to do the crime.
This role started him on his way to more sordid and bizarre parts. Kasdan (The
Big Chill) made his debut as director after finding success as a screenplay
writer. He was employed in ad agencies before going to Hollywood. In this film
he's selling pulp, and is sweating hard to close the sale. It's a contemporary
film noir shot with a lot of orange and red colors, but the film's mindset is of
the black and white generation of 1940 films. This way of updating that genre
might please some, but I found the film too familiar in the noir conventions and
the dialogue was too awkward to excite me. What I liked about it was the steamy
atmosphere it set between the characters and how it used its locale
advantageously to get that across. That was the only original thing about this
film, and imitation is never as good as the original. Though the film was not
without merit, and the performances were all excellent.
REVIEWED ON 8/31/2001 GRADE: B-
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
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