Body Heat (1981)

In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman persuades her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband.

Director:

Lawrence Kasdan

Writer:

Lawrence Kasdan

Stars:

William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Hurt	...	Ned Racine
Kathleen Turner	...	Matty Walker
Richard Crenna	...	Edmund Walker
Ted Danson	...	Peter Lowenstein
J.A. Preston	...	Oscar Grace
Mickey Rourke	...	Teddy Lewis
Kim Zimmer	...	Mary Ann
Jane Hallaren	...	Stella
Lanna Saunders	...	Roz Kraft
Carola McGuinness	...	Heather Kraft
Michael Ryan	...	Miles Hardin
Larry Marko	...	Judge Costanza
Deborah Lucchesi	...	Beverly
Lynn Hallowell	...	Angela
Thom Sharp	...	Michael Glenn (as Thom J. Sharp)

Storyline

Ned Racine is a seedy small town lawyer in Florida. During a searing heatwave he's picked up by married Matty Walker. A passionate affair commences but it isn't long before they realise the only thing standing in their way is Matty's rich husband Edmund. A plot hatches to kill him but will they pull it off?

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Plot Keywords:

femme fatale | fatal attraction | con | scantily clad female | utilization | 

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Taglines:

It's a hot summer. Ned Racine is waiting for something special to happen. And when it does... He won't be ready for the consequences.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cuerpos ardientes

Filming Locations:

Lake Avenue, Lake Worth, Florida, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$564,593, 30 August 1981, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$24,058,838, 31 December 1981

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Ladd Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lawrence Kasdan has written four of the Star Wars films. [linknm0001101] appeared on Cheers with Star Wars cast members John Ratzenberger (from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)) and Woody Harrelson (from Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)). Both of those films were written by Kasdan.

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Goofs

The shadow of the crew is visible on the pier when Ned is running in the morning.

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Quotes

Peter: I'm really disappointed in you, Racine. I've been living vicariously off of you for years. You shut up on me now, all I have is my wife.

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Alternate Versions

Strange as it may seem, at least one commercial television print completely eliminates the key sequence where Richard Crenna's character is killed!

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Extreme Prejudice/Marlene/Personal Services/Sweet Lorraine (1987)

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Soundtracks

That Old Feeling
(1937) (uncredited)
Music by Sammy Fain
Played in the score in a bar and at a concert

User Reviews

This Will Heat You Up On A Cold Winter Night!

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!