#92: BODY HEAT (1981)

 

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, a decade ago

BEST SEQUENCE

The final scene between Ned (William Hurt) and Matty (Kathleen Turner)

BEST LINE

"That man is going to die. For no reason but we want him dead" - Ned to Matty, not even trying to justify their intentions

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

98%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Made from classic noir ingredients and flavored with a heaping helping of steamy modern spice, Body Heat more than lives up to its evocative title."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman persuades her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband."

THOUGHTS

• The first half of this movie is all about sex. The two main characters meet, and we start with flirtation, leading to infatuation, growing into lustful obsession. And I have to say, godDAMN are these two good-looking people. I haven't seen young William Hurt in much, and Kathleen Turner I mostly think of as the voice of Jessica Rabbit (sexy in her own right, of course). But just look at them! And say what you will about William Hurt's sleazy moustache. It worked for me

• While it's no chore to watch these two attractive people lounging around in various states of undress, it's not exactly thrilling. Completely necessary build-up and plot development, sure, but things really start to hum in the back half of the movie. The first part may get the blood pumping, but it doesn't get the heart pounding, if you catch my drift
• The movie really makes you feel the heat of the setting. People are always sweaty and glisten-y, they stand in front of open refrigerators and lie in bathtubs full of ice water, and even when you see their hair ruffle in the breeze, you know exactly what kind of breeze it is. Hot and unpleasant, like Satan's blowing in your face (how's THAT for a simile?!)
• Second-favourite line of the movie: Matty is kissing Ned on his shoulders and chest, and she tells him, "Oh, you're so wet...and so salty." I think she meant it as a good thing
• This was a breakout movie for pretty much everyone involved, especially Kathleen Turner - it was her first movie ever, and only her second IMDB credit. It was also William Hurt's third movie, and the first movie directed by writer-director Lawrence Kasdan (who we'll be hearing from again, much higher up on the AFI list - he wrote the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark). We've also got a very young Ted Danson, and an almost unrecognizably young Mickey Rourke:

• And speaking of movies that will be coming up later on the list, Body Heat was heavily influenced by 1944's Double Indemnity, #24 on this list of ours. I haven't seen Double Indemnity, so I can't speak to any comparisons between them yet, but I do know it's considered a classic of film noir
• Body Heat itself was also influential on its own, and I could definitely see some similarities between it and a movie we talked about a little while ago, Blood Simple. I ended up liking Blood Simple a little better, but they're both great movies, with twisty plots and schemes that are fun to watch unravel
• And finally, one more movie comparison: out of pure coincidence, I recently watched another well-known erotic thriller, which also took inspiration from Double Indemnity, in which a sexy, potentially dangerous woman seduces a morally ambiguous man for ulterior motives: Basic Instinct, from 1992. Body Heat is really quite frank about its sexual content, especially for 1981 standards, but it does still have a sense of decorum. There's a fair amount of nudity, but the really graphic stuff is kept off-screen. Not so for Basic Instinct, which throws decorum entirely out the window. Did I find Basic Instinct titillating? Sure. Sharon Stone is a very attractive woman, and Michael Douglas was also there, too. But ultimately, I'll take the restrained implication of Body Heat over the borderline soft-core of Basic Instinct, thanks

Up next: Braveheart. I saw it years ago, and I don't remember much. Mel Gibson is an absolute garbage human, and if you don't want to spend any time thinking about a movie he directed and starred in, I can't say I blame you. I am going to try to separate the art from the artist, though