‘You aren’t too smart, are you? I like that in a man...’
Cinematically, when I think of the ’80s, I think of Spielberg inspired family adventures, preposterous action movies, and endless teen slashers. In terms of box office, however, it was a decade perhaps more defined by adult erotic thrillers that also occasionally intersected with the concept of yuppies-in-peril. While this strange and relatively brief subsection of American cinema eventually culminated in Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992), there is a strong argument that it was Lawrence Kasdan’s 1981 classic Body Heat that properly kicked things off…
With South Florida in the grip of an intense heat wave, low-rent lawyer Ned Racine (William Hurt) begins an affair with Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner), the young wife of a much older shadowy businessman (Richard Crenna). In true Hitchcockian style, our two leads decide to murder Matty’s husband in order to ride off into the sunset with the considerable insurance money.
Loosely based on James M. Cain’s novel Double Indemnity (already adapted into a film by Billy Wilder in 1941), Body Heat combines Hitchcock and 1940’s film noir but drags these inspirations into the ’80s with a series of sultry sex sequences. Hurt and Turner have an insane onscreen chemistry that is impossible to invent and even harder to replicate. We believe that the pair simply cannot be without each other. Crenna’s character is a little more stock but his performance remains captivating and it’s a pleasure to see Mickey Rourke and a pre-Cheers Ted Danson rounding out the supporting cast.
While the plot of Body Heat is ultimately pretty predictable (although this could just be because I was viewing it through a modern lens), the journey is just as compelling as the destination. Kasdan, making his directorial debut here, was coming off of the back of writing The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and his screenplay exudes confidence. There is a certainty here. A feeling that Kasdan knew exactly what he wanted and exactly how to deliver it.
Body Heat was a modest box office success upon release, but it’s influence has echoed throughout cinema history since. The archetypal ’80s erotic thriller.
