Voleur de désirs

I saw this on late-night TV some time ago and didn't think it was too bad. The plot is a bit far-fetched, but the film actually gets better as it goes along, so it's certainly worth a look. People say David Caruso is the only good thing in this film, but I didn't think he was very good. A bit too extreme for my taste. Shooting a cop and then losing his mind didn't do anything for me. I thought the husband and his business friend were great. The music is quite good also, and a lot of the warehouse scenes are quite well done, with lots of tension.

If you want something to kick-back with on a Saturday night, this would be one film to try. Nothing overly-special, but not bad to say the least!

What's not to love? Hot leading man, amazing San Francisco locale and a Faltermyer/Moroder soundtrack including the incomparable Melissa Manchester. The cast is great. Steven Bauer and Barbara Williams have great chemistry together. And the appearance of David Caruso early in his career is a bit of a surprise, too. A fun fantasy escape!

I first saw Thief of Hearts on cable while I was babysitting in high school...maybe 16 years old. As a Catholic school girl, I was obsessed with all things sexual, so I was an instant fan of the movie. I saw it several more times while it was still a popular cable choice, then lost track of it. However, I never forgot it: the sexual tension, the premise...not even the title! As an adult, I talked my fiancé into renting it, issuing the standard disclaimer: "I loved this in high school, but I was into Wham!, Duran Duran and Prince, too, so proceed with caution," etc. To my surprise, it was almost as good as I remembered it having been, and the sexual situations weren't nearly as contrived as I feared they might be. Some of the acting was a little wooden, but the premise is brilliant...I'm still trying to turn that around in my head...and, for some reason, I still don't keep a diary!

This movie was bitterly panned upon its release, and I see a number of IMDB's reviewers agree with the original critics. I don't get it, except that this movie does such a good idea of taking you inside Stephen Bauer's character and what he is doing is so creepy that people react viscerally to him instead of the movie. The movie is engrossing, brilliantly photographed and well-paced. The camera angles and the chemistry between Bauer and Williams are reminiscent of what Hitchcock tried to do in Vertigo, but much less forced and contrived. All these characters behave in character. I really consider this one of the best romantic thrillers of all time. Yes, it is erotic. Why is that a bad thing? 10/10.

The film tells a story of a burglar who falls in love with one of his victims whilst doing her house one night. After stealing her portrait and personal memoires, he proceeds to "learn" more and more about the victim until he decides to come into personal contact. Passing himself off as a Company Director, he slowly seduces the victim and this is facilitated by her failing marriage. Inevitably, events catch up with the thief as his partner in crime goes to desperate measures to eliminate this side-distraction. I enjoyed this movie for a number of reasons but most of all, I thought it had a fantastic eighties soundtrack throughout. The story itself is not wonderfully exciting, but the fantasy of a burglar falling for one of his victims and using his psychological advantage to seduce her is quite interesting. A sense of compassion is felt for the central character as he strives to live a fantasy of his own making that slowly starts to disintegrate due to his own dark life. John Caruso puts in a disturbing and powerful performance as the drugged-crazed partner who takes matters into his own hands.