Body Heat (1981)

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J. A. Preston, Kim Zimmer, Mickey Rourke. [R]

Steamy neo-noir put Turner on the map (in her film debut) as a brazenly confident siren as sweltering as the Florida summer she marinates in. Sweating beside her—between the sheets and otherwise—is none-too-bright lawyer Hurt, who is willing to kill her husband (Crenna) so he can be with her and she can inherit his wealth. Familiar plot setup has almost become routine since the days of James M. Cain potboilers (Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice), and yet what writer/director Kasdan does with it is anything but predictable, and he has selected his setting and leading lady well, both of which can make the screwy narrative engine and melodrama seem almost plausible. Perhaps a tad too much of an exercise in style and twisty manipulation, but the filmmaking transcends its souped-up contrivances, and refreshes the old model with a vigor that’s exactly as cynical as it needs to be. In addition to Turner, Kasdan is also making his film debut (as director).

80/100