Body Heat (1981): Noir in Color

It’s amazing how many movies twine sex and murder. And I’ve been seeing quite a few lately.

Body Heat was one of the better movies of 1981. Of course 1981 was not a very good year for American films, aside from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but this one is well worth seeing or seeing again, if you saw it back in the day. (The best of the rest that year included Escape from New York, Reds, Chariots of Fire, The Gods Must Be Crazy, Gallipoli, On Golden Pond, Eye of the Needle, and Ragtime – and many of those were not even American.)

As the title suggests, Body Heat is a movie about passion and sex, and the danger implicit therein. It is an homage to film noir, despite being in color, and uses many of the conventions of that genre: Chandleresque dialogue, dark, shadowy cinematography, mid-twentieth century-style mood music (heavy on the sax), odd camera angles, and a story that features intrigue, homicide and the law. In fact, the basic story is an update on the noir classic, Double Indemnity ( 1944 – Billy Wilder) with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray.

Body Heat features hot young actors William Hurt and Kathleen Turner at the very beginning of their careers (for Hurt this was just his 3rd film, after Altered States and Eyewitness; it was Turner’s stunning feature film debut). Both are “hot” in the current vernacular sense as well, particularly Turner, who makes a great and sexy femme fatale. (My female companions seemed not to mind at all the depiction of Hurt’s glistening torso and handsome mug, either.)

Indeed, one of the distinguishing features of this movie, as compared to its 1940’s and ‘50’s predecessors, is the explicit depiction of the sexual passion that drives the protagonists to their fates. In Double Indemnity, for example, sex is the lure, and there is certainly lust and desire; but in the 1981 film lust and desire give way to passionate sex, which turns to obsession, which then motivates murderous schemes propelling the rest of the story. This is not a detraction: it works. We understand how one caught up in such a fever could kill to keep it.

The plot is familiar: Ned (Hurt) is a somewhat bumbling young lawyer in a sweltering Florida town, who’s favorite pastime, aside from hanging out with his guy friends, is bedding the young gals in town (chasing skirts or dames, in the old vernacular). One day, he sees Matty Walker (Turner), a vision in a white, clingy dress - and his life changes. This woman is hotter than the heat wave engulfing the town. He has to have her. Problem is she’s married. And rich (or at least her husband’s rich.) Turns out, Mattie is lonely, and before you know it, the sparks fly. They can’t get enough of each other. But that damn husband is gonna be a nuisance and pretty soon there’s talk of bumping him off. Can they do it? Will they live happily ever after? Are you kidding? – this is a noir film.

The writer/director Lawrence Kasdan does a nice job building suspense and keeping the audience guessing about what’s going to happen next. I won’t spoil the ending, other than to say it is intended to surprise you, and probably will.

Hurt is brilliant as Ned – a guy who’s intelligent but not very smart – who gets in over his head. He’s warned repeatedly to back off, not to do what he feels compelled to do, but he can’t help himself. Though not a good guy, we can’t help rooting for him. Hurt looks too soft to do "what's necessary", but his Ned does it all, convincingly. Turner is well cast as Matty, with her sultry looks and husky voice. Matty is cool, despite the heat, confident in herself (there is no “You’ll have to do the thinking for both of us” going on with this lady) and confident in her sexuality. Turner’s acting is a bit flat, and would be unconvincing if this were a straight romance or drama; but her job is to be the lure, to draw Ned in, and to provide a touch of mystery, and she’s believable enough. Also, easy on the eyes. (Interestingly, back in 1981, male reviewers largely gushed over Ms. Turner, while female critics did not care for her. Pauline Kael was particularly harsh, describing her acting “as if she were following marks on the floor made by the actresses who preceded her.”)

The rest of the ensemble is also notable. Ted Danson (a year before Cheers) is charming as Ned’s friend Peter, a slightly nerdy, loquacious, deputy D.A., vicariously enjoying Ned’s womanizing ways. J.A Preston is believable as the police inspector, caught between his friendship for Ned and his professional obligations. Richard Crenna, playing Matty’s husband, strikes just the right note as a brash, male chauvinist businessman - not likeable, but not particularly deserving a murderous end. (Ned notes that he will die “for no reason, other than we want him dead’; Matty describes him as “small, mean and weak”, but he is neither small nor weak.) A young Micky Rourke is brilliant in a small, but critical role, as a professional criminal, a former client of Ned’s, who offers assistance and advice. Of all the cast, with the exception of William Hurt, Rourke seems the most natural, the most real.

I liked Body Heat and recommend it. But it will not displace the better noir films of the 40’s and 50’s on my list of greats - films such as The Third Man, The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, Thieves Highway, etc.

(Available on DVD, BlueRay, and Streaming Netflix)