La fièvre au corps

The coastal Florida town in Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat brings to mind remote colonial outposts in movies like The Letter (nearby Miami, here, seems as far away as London). A sweltering spell of weather settles down for a long roost, and the distant glow of an old hotel – a relic of the peninsula's past as an exotic getaway for northerners with money – lights the opening scene; it's been torched for the insurance, an occurrence so common as to warrant little comment.

It's a town where William Hurt, a lawyer who's neither very bright nor very scrupulous, ekes out a modest existence that seems to suit him; he can dine at the best restaurant in town once a month so long as he doesn't order an appetizer. The rest of his time he spends lazily with bourbon or beer or in bed with whoever obliges him.

Then he meets up with Kathleen Turner, who hangs around cocktail lounges when her wheeler-dealer husband (Richard Crenna) is out of town, which is a lot. After the ritual game of cat-and-mouse, Turner and Hurt kindle a torrid romance, despite the enervating heat that keeps everything else limp as dishrags. Soon, the pillow talk works around to murder....

Of course, Body Heat is a latter-day version of the story for which Double Indemnity serves as archetype: Duplicitous woman seduces lust-addled stud into killing rich older husband, then leaves him to twist slowly, slowly in the wind. There's not even enough wind to stir the chimes that festoon the porch off Turner's bedroom -- can't the rich old cuckold spring for air conditioning? Hurt and Turner are reduced to emptying the refrigerator's ice tray into the post-coital bath they share -- but Hurt's left twisting nonetheless, in one of the better updates of this ageless tale.

In her movie debut, Turner makes her deepest impression with her best asset, that dimple-Haig voice of hers, all silk and smoke (but neither she nor Kasdan, who also wrote the script, quite justify her character's long and intricate back-story of ruthless scheming). With his long, lithe college-boy's build and wife-swapper's mustache left over from the '70s, Hurt embodies the self-satisfied patsy whose zipper leads him through life. Crenna (who played this Walter Neff role in the 1973 TV remake of Double Indemnity) now takes on the role of the disposable husband, the victim (or rather, the first victim).

But it's two smaller parts that give the movie a special shine. Mickey Rourke, as the local arsonist whom Hurt once helped out of a jam, ups the voltage in his two scenes, warning the heedless Hurt, then warning him again when it's all but too late. And, as Hurt's amiable adversary in the town's tiny legal circle, Ted Danson proves surprisingly spry and intuitive an actor (and he contributes a lovely little idyll, doing a soft-shoe routine under a street lamp on a pier). There's a twist or two too many in Body Heat -- it's a bit gimmicky -- but, after watching it, you feel as though you, too, should be stripping off your clothes, if only to wring them out.

A modern remake of the 1940s film, "Double Indemnity," this movie has a solid, large fan base of its own. That's justifiable, too, because this is well done.

It sports a 1940s-type film noir soundtrack but the rest is purely 1980s. By that, I mainly mean nudity and profanity, although the language isn't that offensive.

Kathleen Turner plays a femme fatale, similar to Barbara Stanwyck's role with Fred MacMurray in "Double Indemnity," except with a different ending. Actually, the entire story is quite different from the classic film noir. William Hurt has MacMurray's male lead role. I liked the classic actors better but Turner and Hurt shine with their performances, too.

This is steamy movie to say the least. Set on hot, humid Florida summer nights, you can almost feel the heat coming out from the TV screen and the heat from the two leads going at it several times. Turner is excellent as a woman who will go to great lengths for money, as they sometimes do. (Hey, my 87-year-old father is dating a 24-year bimbo in Florida, so I know of where I speak.)

The story is divided into three segments: (1) the setup; (2) the romance and plotting of the crime and (3) the crime and unraveling of Hurt as things begin to go very wrong.

An intriguing film, this loses nothing with multiple viewings. It's always interesting. The more I watched this, the more I found - as the case frequently is - myself fascinated with some of the lesser characters such as Hurt's two friends, played by Ted Danson and J.A. Preston. Danson, by the way, gives us a preview of the amoral character he played later in the hit TV series, "Cheers."

This is the kind of film you snuggle up with someone on a cold winter night. It will warm you up as much as your partner!

Undoubtedly one of the great film noir thrillers in history. Derivative but superbly stylised by director Kasdan and wonderfully realised by Hurt and Turner.

Hurt is a very great actor. He had a string of well played roles in the '80s (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Children of a lesser god, Gorky Park) but his movie career lost momentum after that. Perhaps it's difficult for a cerebral actor like him to find challenging parts. Turner is super sexy, proving that a voluptuous figure or great facial features are not essentials to be a turn on. I hear that Body Heat was her first film. She plays her role with understated confidence.

The underrated theme music too is very good. Supporting cast is effective. Really no faults with this movie. Kasdan did an accomplished job. One can't help but be disappointed that he did not make many more good movies.

Some leading critics complain that the ending was over elaborate. I disagree. I think the ending touch works well with the atmosphere and momentum of the movie towards the end. This being a genre film noir movie, the plot is typical and familiar to almost anyone, but it still has great power and the movie irresistibly sucks the viewer in. You can't but help but admire the skills of the actors and Kasdan's sophisticated direction. The music is marvelously complimentary all the way through.

Great stuff.

Writer/director Kasden got just about everything right in this his first feature. The dialogue crackles as befits a neo noir and John Barry's score is always there to to support or promote some wondrous visuals. Kathleen Turner is quite astonishing in this her first film. Her boldness and bravery in the sex scenes ensure that this sizzles from the off and I guess helps to draw attention away from what is really going on. William Hurt hasn't made many films before this and he too seems very relaxed and easy with regard to the nude and non nude sequences. His banter with his colleagues is as believable as his smouldering tete-a-tetes with his co-star. Mickey Rourke is effective in a key small role and the whole thing moves very well. Having seen this upon its original theatrical release, I have always held it in high regard, feeling upon this Blu-ray viewing that it didn't quite race throughout as I had 'remembered' and there seemed to be a slight imbalance on the sound. But hey - excellent film with fine performances.

I remember watching the John Garfield and Lana Turner film noir classic `The Postman Always Rings Twice' with my mother when I was little. After the couple murdered Turner's husband, mom turned to me and said, `Watch. The two killers will be punished in the end.' `Why?' I asked. `It's the movie code,' she explained: Evil-doers must be punished."

While I'm not a fan of the sex and language direction that films have taken since the movie code died, part of the fun in watching `Body Heat' is knowing that there is a chance that either or both William Hurt and Kathleen Turner will get by with killing Turner's husband, played by Richard Crenna.

`Body Heat' is almost as good as `Double Indemnity,' which is considered by many to be best of the man-teams-with-woman-to-kill-her-husband genre. In `Indemnity' part of the fun is watching the Fred MacMurray character trying to outsmart his friend and mentor, played by Edward G. Robinson. In "Heat" Hurt has two friends he must deceive, cop J.A. Preston and a pre-`Cheers' assistant prosecutor Ted Danson. Try to figure out at what point they know Hurt is guilty.

The performances in `Body Heat' are excellent. In addition to Hurt, Turner, Crenna, Danson and Preston, this was Mickey Roarke's break-through role. Lawrence Kasden, who doesn't waste a shot, expertly directs the film. A great musical score by John Barry of James Bond composing fame expertly aids the steamy mood.