Body Heat
1981 Directed by Lawrence Kasdan
Synopsis
As the temperature rises, the suspense begins.
In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman convinces her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband.
Popular reviews
More-
This is how you do a remake. It's essentially the same story as Double Indemnity, only a bit different. Updated to modern times, it takes on an entirely new atmosphere and puts a new spin on an old idea. The music is awesome and the script is air-tight. Great performances all around. Can't recommend this one enough.
-
The 1980s were a bit of a dead time for popular American cinema. Sure, several established names like Woody Allen hit creative peaks and delivered some genuine knockout pictures but in terms of emerging directors there just wasn't the kind of excitement that came from the decades surrounding it. The '70s are perhaps the finest decade the country has ever seen, as major directors brought an edge and grittiness that produced an abundance of intelligent, visceral and resonating works. American cinema was revolutionized in the '70s and until the '00s I don't think they had been nearly as exciting since. Then the '90s of course brought the independent movement which saw massively influential names like Steven Soderbergh, Jim Jarmusch and…
-
Body Heat is the first in a series of review viewings I will be conducting over the next month, especially for films I haven't seen in a few years.
Body Heat is both indebted to the earlier era of film noir, but sauces it up in the steamy 80s. Everything about this film is fresh despite that indebtedness. You have a debut director pulling off a masterful debut effort that feels like it is drenched in bourbon. This film also contains the breakout performances of Mickey Rourke and Ted Danson, as well as significant early career performances from Hurt & Turner. There is a lot of youthful energy in this film. I've always liked William Hurt in the lead, he had…
-
Token black guy, Ted Danson doing his best Elliot Gould impression, the guy who wrote episodes 5 and 6 directing unknown leads in what has been described as the definitive film soleil - sun, sand, sex and evil women. The only problem is that this film is a shameless and dull remake of Double Indemnity without the class and style, Billy Wilder's quality behind the camera and Raymond Chandler & James M. Cains undoubted skill with words. This movie is all steamy, pointless sex, if you like that sort of thing then perhaps you'll enjoy Kathleen Turner as a femme fatale who can't help but literally lead a moronic William Hurt around by his penis for two hours. Zzzzzzzzzzz
-
Body Heat is a sweaty, scintillating neo-noir, in which the horniest woman in America (Kathleen Turner) shags a moustache (William Hurt) into killing her husband. You almost want Hurt to die or go to jail so his willy can have a rest. While it's an homage to vintage '40s noir like Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice (right down to a nattily incorporated fedora), Body Heat also stands superbly on its own two feet: the dialogue is colourful, the plotting keeps you guessing - despite being rich in fatalism - and Turner is dynamic as a woman so warm that she must take off her clothes at every opportunity. Hurt is wooden in places (particularly his penis), the…
-
When Lawrence Kasdan wasn't busy writing Star Wars and Indiana Jones in the early 80's, he was writing and directing Body Heat and The Big Chill. For my money, I'm a bigger fan of Body Heat. It's a film noir based in Florida during a heat wave. The characters are very strong and the film's very well written. Smutty content done intelligently.
Recent reviews
More-
Body Heat is the first in a series of review viewings I will be conducting over the next month, especially for films I haven't seen in a few years.
Body Heat is both indebted to the earlier era of film noir, but sauces it up in the steamy 80s. Everything about this film is fresh despite that indebtedness. You have a debut director pulling off a masterful debut effort that feels like it is drenched in bourbon. This film also contains the breakout performances of Mickey Rourke and Ted Danson, as well as significant early career performances from Hurt & Turner. There is a lot of youthful energy in this film. I've always liked William Hurt in the lead, he had…
-
this steamy neo-noir hits all the marks from it's predecessors in the genre and allows turner to sizzle on-screen. best watched in black and white.
-
When Lawrence Kasdan wasn't busy writing Star Wars and Indiana Jones in the early 80's, he was writing and directing Body Heat and The Big Chill. For my money, I'm a bigger fan of Body Heat. It's a film noir based in Florida during a heat wave. The characters are very strong and the film's very well written. Smutty content done intelligently.
-
starts off like a fun 40s noir throw back. Good script, fun banter and then immediately descends into a very obvious, run-of-the-mill, thriller.
-
The 1980s were a bit of a dead time for popular American cinema. Sure, several established names like Woody Allen hit creative peaks and delivered some genuine knockout pictures but in terms of emerging directors there just wasn't the kind of excitement that came from the decades surrounding it. The '70s are perhaps the finest decade the country has ever seen, as major directors brought an edge and grittiness that produced an abundance of intelligent, visceral and resonating works. American cinema was revolutionized in the '70s and until the '00s I don't think they had been nearly as exciting since. Then the '90s of course brought the independent movement which saw massively influential names like Steven Soderbergh, Jim Jarmusch and…
-
Steamy 80s noir with enough moustache to keep any man entertained. Worth watching for the sharp turns, wise-cracking script and ample amount of sax (yes, sax). Ted Danson and Mickey Rourke deserve special mentions for their supporting performances—especially Ted Danson’s role as a ridiculous pair of glasses.
-
dialogue seems pretentious...or at least the delivery does. not natural enough to be natural, not cool enough to be noir (with the exception of Mickey Rourke).
goes for the whole direction of the movie, actually. well, for all the parts with dialogue, that is.pretentious direction. pretentious performances (mostly). lazy writing (plot-wise). cool ending. still...
-
Token black guy, Ted Danson doing his best Elliot Gould impression, the guy who wrote episodes 5 and 6 directing unknown leads in what has been described as the definitive film soleil - sun, sand, sex and evil women. The only problem is that this film is a shameless and dull remake of Double Indemnity without the class and style, Billy Wilder's quality behind the camera and Raymond Chandler & James M. Cains undoubted skill with words. This movie is all steamy, pointless sex, if you like that sort of thing then perhaps you'll enjoy Kathleen Turner as a femme fatale who can't help but literally lead a moronic William Hurt around by his penis for two hours. Zzzzzzzzzzz
-
Body Heat is a sweaty, scintillating neo-noir, in which the horniest woman in America (Kathleen Turner) shags a moustache (William Hurt) into killing her husband. You almost want Hurt to die or go to jail so his willy can have a rest. While it's an homage to vintage '40s noir like Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice (right down to a nattily incorporated fedora), Body Heat also stands superbly on its own two feet: the dialogue is colourful, the plotting keeps you guessing - despite being rich in fatalism - and Turner is dynamic as a woman so warm that she must take off her clothes at every opportunity. Hurt is wooden in places (particularly his penis), the…