Body Heat

Because it was a movie that I enjoyed so much 26 years ago, I wanted to see if this film noir still carried some impact.
Written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who went on to direct The Big Chill, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, Grand Canyon and Wyatt Earp. This movie was appropriately released in the summer of 1981, and provides 113 minutes of a 40's style crime drama.
The cast was made up of...

• William Hurt as Ned Racine, the small town Florida lawyer with a keen eye for available women and not so much for his profession. Hurt later worked with the director, having main roles in the The Big Chill and Accidental Tourist.
• Kathleen Turner as Matty Walker, worth the price of the ticket, the voice of Jessica Rabbit, enough said. Whewww.
• Richard Crenna as Edmund Walker, hood and husband of Matty, a man of significant wealth that is the motivation for the adulterous couples murder. Crenna, who passed in 2003 had a acting career that started in 1950 and included Ramo series.
• Ted Danson as Peter Lowenstein, Ned's friend and assistant district attorney. This is a pre-Cheers role and he plays it as a dance loving man who lives vicariously by Ned's love life.
• Mickey Rourke as Teddy Lewis the ex-con who trains Ned how to create a fire bomb. This role was created a year before Diner and shows the promise of a career that never quite made it. He says to Ned....
  I got a serious question for you: What the fuck are you doing? This is not shit for you to be messin' with. Are you ready to hear something? I want you to see if this sounds familiar: any time you try a decent crime, you got fifty ways you're gonna fuck up. If you think of twenty-five of them, then you're a genius... and you ain't no genius. You remember who told me that?

The plot is simple enough. Horny man tracks good looking woman. Woman ensnares horny man with hidden motives. Man kills woman's wife for the money. Woman frames the horny man for the murder that he did. There are some other little twists but in a nutshell that is it.

I still like the movie, score 36 of 50.

• Character development 9 of 10. Opens the depravity of people who commit murder without regret.
• Writing 6 of 10. Done in a 40's style that fits.
• Photography 7 of 10. There are many scenes that have a unique Kasdan soft feel.
• Acting 8 of 10. Hurt and Turner are good.
• Concept 6 of 10. Its hot.