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It's the middle of a heat wave in South Florida, which in the words of Det. Oscar Grace, leads people down a twisted path where "old rules" don't apply. "People dress different, feel different, sweat more, wake up cranky and they never recover", which is precisely the path where his friend has gone down. Can he recover?
Body Heat follows that friend, Ned Racine (William Hurt), who has just started an affair with Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner). As he learns about her husband's wealth, Ned agrees to murder him – figure no one'll care – so she can inherit his money. Emergency time. Time out. Of course, things are more than a little askew, as Ned will eventually discover.
This is one of those frequent mentions when the topic of 80s films come up that I hadn't seen, but what a pleasant watch it was. First, the atmosphere is so well transmitted that you can feel the humidity and the heat through the screen. But most of that falls also on Hurt and Turner's steamy and effective performances. Not only do they have an undeniable sexual chemistry, but they are pretty darn good in their roles.
Much like its characters, the film does veer dangerously into absurdism, especially in the last act. However, it doesn't fall but rather manages to hold on and deliver quite a few interesting twists in the end. After all, it's a film where everything is just a little askew and old rules aren't in effect, and it's all so wickedly fun.
Grade:
BODY HEAT
(1981, Kasdan)
(1981, Kasdan)
"Everyhing is just a little askew. Pretty soon people think the old rules aren't in effect. They start breaking them. Figure no one'll care, cause it's emergency time. Time out."
It's the middle of a heat wave in South Florida, which in the words of Det. Oscar Grace, leads people down a twisted path where "old rules" don't apply. "People dress different, feel different, sweat more, wake up cranky and they never recover", which is precisely the path where his friend has gone down. Can he recover?
Body Heat follows that friend, Ned Racine (William Hurt), who has just started an affair with Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner). As he learns about her husband's wealth, Ned agrees to murder him – figure no one'll care – so she can inherit his money. Emergency time. Time out. Of course, things are more than a little askew, as Ned will eventually discover.
This is one of those frequent mentions when the topic of 80s films come up that I hadn't seen, but what a pleasant watch it was. First, the atmosphere is so well transmitted that you can feel the humidity and the heat through the screen. But most of that falls also on Hurt and Turner's steamy and effective performances. Not only do they have an undeniable sexual chemistry, but they are pretty darn good in their roles.
Much like its characters, the film does veer dangerously into absurdism, especially in the last act. However, it doesn't fall but rather manages to hold on and deliver quite a few interesting twists in the end. After all, it's a film where everything is just a little askew and old rules aren't in effect, and it's all so wickedly fun.
Grade: