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Body Heat is a 1981 American neo-noirAlain Silver; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. erotic thriller written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan in his directorial debut. It stars William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, featuring Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J. A. Preston and Mickey Rourke. The film was inspired by the classic film noir Double Indemnity (1944), in turn based on the 1943 novel of the same name.
The film launched Turner's career— Empire magazine cited the film in 1995 when it named her one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History". Alt URL The New York Times wrote in 2005 that, propelled by her "jaw-dropping movie debut in Body Heat ... she built a career on adventurousness and frank sexuality born of robust physicality".
By chance, Ned runs into Matty and Edmund at a restaurant. Matty introduces Ned as a lawyer who has been asking about buying the Walkers' house. The three have dinner, during which Edmund states he would kill any man who was having an affair with his wife.
Ned meets an old client, bombmaker Teddy Lewis, who builds him an incendiary device. Ned fabricates an alibi by traveling to Miami, where he checks into a hotel and then drives back home in the night. After Ned kills Edmund, he and Matty move the body to an abandoned building that Edmund owns. Ned sets the bomb to destroy Edmund's body and mislead the police. Ned and Matty then part and agree to have no contact until Matty takes possession of the estate.
Soon after, Edmund's lawyer calls Ned about Edmund's new will, which had supposedly been drafted by Ned; the will was supposedly witnessed by Mary Ann Simpson, a woman Ned once met in passing but who is nowhere to be found. The new will has been improperly prepared, violating the rule against perpetuities, and the local judge, with a poor opinion of Ned, Intestacy it, leaving Matty the sole beneficiary. Ned realizes Matty has disregarded his warning and forged the will, calculating it would be nullified. Matty pleads for forgiveness, pledging her love for Ned.
The case is investigated by Ned's friends, prosecutor Peter Lowenstein and detective Oscar Grace. They suspect Matty is involved in her husband's death and warn Ned against seeing her; Ned begins openly dating Matty to throw them off. The police deduce Edmund was not killed at the arson scene because his glasses were missing. Also, Matty appears to have lied about Simpson. Oscar begins to suspect Ned when he realizes Ned's alibi in Miami does not hold. Edmund's niece, who once caught Matty and Ned having sex, is brought to the police but does not recognize Ned.
Increasingly nervous and questioning Matty's loyalty, Ned happens upon an acquaintance who says he had recommended Ned to Matty. Later, Teddy tells Ned about a woman who wanted to know how to rig a bomb to a door. Matty calls Ned, saying her maid had agreed to return the incriminating glasses after she paid her off. She asks Ned to pick up the glasses from her boathouse. There, Ned spots a wire attached to the door. Matty arrives, and Ned asks her to get the glasses instead. Oscar arrives and observes their interaction. Matty walks toward the boathouse, which then explodes. A body found inside is identified from dental records as Matty's.
Now in prison, Ned tries to convince Oscar that "Matty" is still alive, believing that she had assumed the real Matty's identity to conceal her past from Edmund. Ned surmises the "Mary Ann Simpson" that Ned previously met had discovered the scheme and was Matty, only to be murdered, her body planted in the boathouse. Had Ned been killed in the explosion, the police would have found both suspects' bodies and closed the case. Oscar is not convinced and reminds Ned that he actually did kill Edmund.
Ned obtains a copy of Matty's high school yearbook: in it are photos of Mary Ann Simpson and Matty Tyler, confirming his suspicion. Below Mary Ann's photo is the nickname "Femme fatale" and "Ambition—To be rich and live in an exotic land". The real Mary Ann is seen lounging on a tropical beach living a new life.
A substantial portion of the film was shot in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, including downtown Lake Worth and in the oceanside enclave of Manalapan. Additional scenes were shot on Hollywood Beach, Florida, such as the scene set in a band shell.
In an interview, Body Heat film editor Carol Littleton says, "Obviously, there was more graphic footage. But we felt that less was more."
Barry worked closely with recording sessions engineer Dan Wallin to mix the soundtrack album, but for several reasons J.S Lasher (who produced the limited-edition LP and CD) remixed multitracks himself without Barry's or Wallin's participation.Jon Burlingame, liner notes from Film Score Monthly's Body Heat CD (FSM Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 13-14)
J.S Lasher's album was released several times: as a 45 RPM (Southern Cross LXSE 1.002) in 1983 and as a CD (Label X LXCD 2) in 1989. Both editions also included 'Ladd Company Logo' composed and conducted by John Williams.
In 1998, Varèse Sarabande released a re-recording by Joel McNeely and the London Symphony Orchestra. This CD contained several new tracks (versus J.S Lasher's editions), but still was not complete.
In August 2012, Film Score Monthly released a definitive two-disc edition: the complete score with alternate, unused, and source cues on disc 1, and the original, Barry-authorized album and theme demos on disc 2.
Upon its release, Richard Corliss wrote " Body Heat has more narrative drive, character congestion and sense of place than any original screenplay since Chinatown, yet it leaves room for some splendid young actors to breathe, to collaborate in creating the film's texture"; it is "full of meaty characters and pungent performances—Ted Danson as a tap-dancing prosecutor, J.A. Preston as a dogged detective, and especially Mickey Rourke as a savvy young ex-con who looks and acts as if he could be Ned's sleazier twin brother." Variety magazine wrote " Body Heat is an engrossing, mightily stylish melodrama in which sex and crime walk hand-in-hand down the path to tragedy, just like in the old days. Working in the imposing shadow of the late James M. Cain, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan makes an impressively confident directorial debut". Roger Ebert included the film on his "10 Best List" for the year.
Janet Maslin wrote that Body Heat was "skillfully, though slavishly, derived" from 1940s film noir classics; she stated that, "Mr. Hurt does a wonderful job of bringing Ned to life," but was not impressed by Turner's performance:
Sex is all-important to Body Heat, as its title may indicate. And beyond that there isn't much to move the story along or to draw these characters together. A great deal of the distance between Ned can be attributed to the performance of Miss Turner, who looks like the quintessential forties siren, but sounds like the Soap opera actress she is. Miss Turner keeps her chin high in the air, speaks in a perfect monotone, and never seems to move from the position in which Mr. Kasdan has left her.
Pauline Kael dismissed the film, citing its "insinuating, hotted-up dialogue that it would be fun to hoot at if only the hushed, sleepwalking manner of the film didn't make you cringe or yawn". Ebert responded to Kael's negative review when he added the film to his "Great Movies" list:
Yes, Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat (1981) is aware of the films that inspired it—especially Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944). But it has a power that transcends its sources. It exploits the personal style of its stars to insinuate itself; Kael is unfair to Turner, who in her debut role played a woman so sexually confident that we can believe her lover (William Hurt) could be dazed into doing almost anything for her. The moment we believe that, the movie stops being an exercise and starts working.
John Simon of National Review described Body Heat as 'derivative and odious'. (2025). 9781557835079, Applause Books. ISBN 9781557835079
In a home video review for Turner Classic Movies, Glenn Erickson called it "arguably the first conscious Neo Noir"; he wrote "Too often described as a quickie remake of Double Indemnity, Body Heat is more detailed in structure and more pessimistic about human nature. The noir hero for the Reagan years is ...more like the self-defeating Al Roberts of Edgar Ulmer's Detour".
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
Rourke earned critical acclaim for his performance, which helped him evolve from character actor to movie star.
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