Review of Body Heat (1981) by John E — 02 Aug 2011

What was supposed to be steamy, erotic and enchanting was, to me, tepid, staid, and unmotivated. When the couple first met up, there was genuine chemistry, culminating in the chair through the window scene.

After that, having them pose and strut around in their birthday suit, while being all sweaty because of a story-imposed heat wave does little to make the movie erotic. The story would be more fascinating if the actors didn't spend most of the movie's time blandly talking about their crime or masking their inner turmoil in a face of complete dispassion as the police and others begin to discover what happened.

Honestly, Ted Danson was the most nuanced, best-defined character of the bunch. The ending "twist" was reached in a fashion that is still inexplicable to me: Ned reaches an epiphany? Divine inspiration? The final twist was tacked on and created equivocal emotions.

The direction was obviously the work of an amateur: there were flashes of brilliance and some well-executed tracking shots, but some shots were queerly conceived. The writing was as limp and listless as its execution, the direction was spotty and the story average.

The one saving grace is John Barry's phenomenal, transcendental score that evokes emotions impossible to access from the film itself. How Mr. Barry is able to generate music of such richness, depth and intensity is beyond me, especially based on what he had to work with.

This isn't the first time he's composed music that significantly raises the quality of a movie (e.g Moonraker), but thank God he was there to give the movie one resounding merit.