Tropical Heat

Tropical Heat (unrated version reviewed here) was all right. I've seen better. Rick Rossovich, who played Steve Martin's foil in Roxanne, plays a P.I. who is given what seems to be a straightforward case: Go to India and see if a British woman's papers are legit, allowing her to claim her husband's wealth after he was stomped by an elephant(!). Everything seems fine until a relative of the dead man shows up and pleads to Rossovich that he was murdered. Not only that, Rossovich also has a torrid affair with the widow, played by a delicious Maryam D'Abo. And so, the search for the truth comes up when it turns out that other associates of the Maharajah are dead as well.

Tropical Heat was filmed in India, and it's probably a great showcase for this country. The acting is O.K., although it seems that some of the actors had their voices dubbed. Yes, this is a MFV erotic thriller, and the scenes here with D'Abo and Rossovich are hot stuff. Asha Siewkumar, playing the Maharajah's relative, is a knockout, she's the Kira Reed of India. LeeAnn Beaman is cute, but her "scene" with Rossovich is tepid, and she hasn't got a great body nor great acting skills for this genre. I'd see it again if it comes up, it's pretty clever.

Sometimes you just want to watch something light, you know? Something that will foot the bill as entertainment without any especial need to actively engage with or think about the goings-on? 'Tropical heat' certainly fits that bill, only - wow, I can truthfully say I didn't know what I was getting into. Maybe I was a bit naive, thinking that the involvement of Maryam d'Abo - best known as Kara Milovy in 'The living daylights,' the best James Bond movie - necessarily portended an earnest thriller. This isn't to say that this title can't carry itself with those airs, but at the same time, a six-year old wearing a costume at Halloween doesn't make them a werewolf. There's an astounding, almost bewildering, halfhearted sensibility to many if not most scenes, and much of the acting, that belies a different intent to the production. We see this, for example, in the martial arts B-movies of Cynthia Rothrock, like the joyous romps that are 'China O'Brien' and its sequel. Here it becomes flagrantly obvious in no time at all that filmmaker Jag Mundhra's ambition in 1993 was a thriller facade to soft-core frivolity. I can only laugh with disbelieving mirth at the silliness we're treated to, whether with or without clothing; this is a good time, but maybe not in the way it's supposed to be.

I'll say this much - the filming locations are a genuine treat. All the sights and sounds we get of India, whether the countryside, gorgeous specific architecture, or urban landscapes, are rich and flavorful; my compliments to Mundhra, cinematographer V. Shaukat, and location manager P. S. Raja. Similarly, I love the work of makeup artist and hair stylist A. Purushothamaraja and costume designer Nagaraj, and the production design and art direction. Despite the kitschy slant of the feature, there was real care put into it in at least some regards. Only some, mind you; the sound design is a little lacking, and by whatever combination of factors, the takes that were chosen for the final cut include unmistakable deficiencies on the part of the cast, including lines of dialogue that just trail off into indistinct, indecipherable sounds. Even for viewers who are accustomed to low-grade fare of one sort or another, there's a confounding directness to the editing and direction that rather confirms 'Tropical heat' to be little more than a paycheck for anyone involved. Even in those moments when the actors are doing their best to imbue the picture with some sincerity, they are restrained in that capacity by the gauche tone or the faulty construction.

Among the players who do seem to try every now and again, I do not include Rick Rossovich, starring as insurance investigator Gravis. On the other hand, where she's not pointedly restricted by one element or another, I detect real effort from Ashaa Siewkumar; while she brings class and poise in the best of times, in the moments of utmost tawdriness, I swear I can read desperation and pain in d'Abo's face, as if she both regretted but needed this role even as filming was taking place. And the supporting cast, too, even with less time on-screen, seem to be putting their best foot forward (sometimes). Still, in fairness, there's only so much that anyone could have done with this material, for the screenplay is less than perfect. Sure enough, there's a real thriller story underlying the cheesiest of skin flick nonsense, but when all is said and done, there's not much plot in these 90 minutes. Some dialogue is decidedly blunt and overt; the writing and execution of some scenes all too neat and orderly. That's not to say that what substance 'Tropical heat' has to offer is bad, but it's unquestionably less than perfect.

Then again, maybe I'm nitpicking. There's no getting around what this was intended to be - and anyway, if we take it at face value, the broad strokes of the narrative are solid, and adaptable to other locales and characters. This film was never meant for grandeur and elevation in the world of cinema, only passing enjoyment, and it succeeds in that goal. Moreover, there really was a lot of hard work put into the production in many ways, so if the B-grade flourishes conflict with the more honest facets that they adjoin or embellish, well, so it goes. So long as you're not expecting the best of the best, then I think that whatever it is you want out of this feature, you'll get enough to satisfy in at least some measure. 'Tropical heat' has its fair share of problems, but even at its worst I can't say it's not amusing. There's no need to go out of your way for it, and it's probably best reserved for the direly bored or extremely curious, but especially as far as erotic thrillers go, there are worse ways to spend your time.

An insurance investigator travels to India to investigate the death of a maharajah whose death was officially deemed as being trampled by an elephant in this soft-core thriller that is deathly boring and has surprisingly unerotic soft-core scenes. Not worth watching even if you find it on late night premium cable and have nothing else to do. Sleep would be preferable to this mind-numbing garbage. To add insult to injury, the movie also somehow makes India look dull and unappealing.

Eye Candy: Asha Siewkumar show T&A; Maryam d'Abo bares her breasts; and Lee Anne Beaman shows all

My Grade: D-

After her maharajah husband is stomped to death by an elephant, Beverly (Maryam D'Abo) goes to Los Angeles to file a $5 million life insurance claim. The insurance adjusters are suspicious (though Beverly should be suspicious of the insurance company given that it appears to do business out of a hotel conference room) and hire P.I. Gravis (Rick Rossovich) to follow Beverly back to India and investigate. Naturally, Beverly and Gravis fall in lust with each other, and naturally, things aren't what they appear. The daughter of the maharajah's elephant trainer (busty Asha Siewkumar) arouses Gravis' suspicions, among other things, but can they uncover the truth before they both end up dead?

It's not every erotic thriller that has a death by elephant at its core, so for that reason alone "Tropical Heat" sets itself apart from other movies in its genre. The India setting is another aspect that makes this direct-to-video thriller unique. But apart from the killer elephant and exotic locale, there's not much in "Tropical Heat" that hasn't been seen before, and that includes D'Abo nude. The movie is further hindered by dialog that sounds as if it was lifted from a Hindi-to-English phrase book and production values reminiscent of a 1980s porn video (albeit one of the higher quality porn videos). D'Abo is a mediocre actress but she's Meryl Streep in comparison to the rest of the cast, whose acting ranges from almost passable (Rossovich, Siewkumar) to second-grader-in-a-school-play (Govind Rao as the coroner; Brian Tracy as head of the insurance company). A call out to Lee Anne Beaman, as a sexy insurance adjuster, whose performance suggests she learned her craft doing ads for singles hotlines on late night TV.

When it comes to the erotic part of this genre exercise, "Tropical Heat" mostly delivers, though director Jag Mundhra has made sexier—and certainly better—movies. Much of the softcore action looks like it would be better appreciated as a series of still photos, which might have been enough for 1993 but isn't likely to satisfy audiences in the Internet age. If you must see any of the leads—D'Abo, Rossovich, Beaman, Siewkumar—nude, "Tropical Heat" is the movie for you. Otherwise, these tropics are only lukewarm.

This shoddy excuse for erotica-thriller is probably exactly what you'd expect from Jagmohan 'Jag' Mundhra. Although I became an instant fan after 'The Other woman', his previous and later efforts failed to live up to par.

The story goes to India and revolves around a murder mystery surrounding the Raja's death and her widowed british wife. The insurance investigator, as usual, gets more than what he bargained for and gets entangled in the web of sex and deceit.

Lee Anne Beaman's scenes of importance are poor and almost irritating at times. The english woman and investigator's sex scenes are even worse, (one of the tired scenes portrays the couple making love on the edge of a waterfall among the rocks! what the hell?)

The only saving grace of the movie is the dark and raw beauty of Asha Siewkumar, who of course is not noted for her acting abilities. She isn't extraordinarily pretty, but very very sexy.