Like a lot of the country, we’ve been having a heat wave in Florida. Temperatures last month were over 100, matching the daily record one day where I live.
There’s also a heat wave — in more ways than one — in 1981’s Body Heat, our club’s pick for the week.
Several weeks ago, we discussed how the rain was a character in its own right in The Hole. From the opening scene (which reminded me of the opening of Psycho, set in a hot Phoenix) to the final one, the heat is equally ever-present.
You can almost feel the heat just watching, thanks to writer/director Lawrence Kasdan. The characters talk about it, their clothing shows the sweat, and the movie uses a very warm color palette.
William Hurt and Kathleen Turner exude the sultry, humid heat, too. They are perfectly cast as shady lawyer Ned Racine and equally shady Matty Walker in this neo-noir. And in typical noir fashion, their relationship is doomed from the start.
She’s desperate to be rid of her husband (Richard Crenna) and Ned is too easily convinced to do the dirty work thanks to a potentially large inheritance. (This ties in nicely to another previous pick, Double Indemnity.)
While there is deception, Matty is honest with Ned. With a smile that reminds me of noir femmes fatales, Lisbeth Scott and Gene Tierney, Matty warns, “You shouldn’t have come; you’re going to be disappointed” and, later, “I’m trouble.” You can imagine where it all leads.
It’s a wonderful script by Kasdan that opens with the heat and a building on fire, and ends with the same, with plenty of heat and fire in between.