Body Heat

Director: Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Kasdan

Overview

Lawrence Kasdan's first directorial effort is a throwback to the early days of film noir. The scene is a beastly hot Florida coastal town, where naive attorney Ned (William Hurt) is entranced by the alluring Matty (Kathleen Turner in her film debut). Ned is manipulated into killing Matty's much older husband (Richard Crenna), the plan being that Ned's knowledge of legal matters will enable both conspirators to escape scott-free. This might have been the case, had not Matty been infinitely craftier than the cloddish Ned. Just when it seems as though the film has run out of plot twists, we're handed yet another surprise.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2008
UPC:	0883929033539
Original Release:	1981
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	12,575

Special Features

Lifted scenes; 3 steamy featurettes: Body Heat: The Plan - Screenplay and casting; The Production: Filming; The Post-Production: Editing, scoring and release; Vintage interviews with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

William Hurt	Ned Racine
Kathleen Turner	Matty Walker
Richard Crenna	Edmund Walker
Ted Danson	Peter Lowenstein
J.A. Preston	Oscar Grace
Mickey Rourke	Teddy Lewis
Kim Zimmer	Mary Ann Simpson
Jane Hallaren	Stella
Lanna Saunders	Roz Kraft
Carola McGuinness	Heather Kraft
Michael Ryan	Miles Hardin
Larry Marko	Judge Costanza
Deborah Lucchessi	Beverly
Lynn Hallowell	Angela
Thom Sharp	Michael Glenn
Robert Traynor	Prison Trustee
Meg Kasdan	Nurse

Technical Credits

Lawrence Kasdan

Vaclav Matejka

Milan Steindler

Lawrence Kasdan	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
John Barry	Score Composer
Hal Bigger	Special Effects
Gary Combs	Stunts
Renie Conley	Costumes/Costume Designer
Fred T. Gallo	Producer
Rick T. Gentz	Set Decoration/Design
Robert Grand	Associate Producer,Production Manager
Michael Grillo	Asst. Director
James M. Halty	Stunts
Howard Jensen	Special Effects
Bill Kenney	Production Designer
Richard H. Kline	Cinematographer
Carol Littleton	Editor
George Lucas	Producer
Jiri Macak	Cinematographer
Vaclav Matejka	Screenwriter
Michael McGowan	Camera Operator
Richard McKenzie	Set Decoration/Design
Wallis Nicita	Casting
Milan Steindler	Screenwriter
Steve Chambers	Stunts
Sig Tingloff	Set Decoration/Design

Editorial Reviews

It's very warm in the stuffy interiors of this thinly disguised remake of Double Indemnity. Kathleen Turner is so sultry in this Deep South film noir potboiler that it's hard to imagine that this was her first starring role. She plays a devious wife who spins a web that traps a naïve, mesmerized lawyer (William Hurt) in a scheme to kill her husband. Writer-director Lawrence Kasdan, in his directorial debut, keeps the suspense and eroticism at full power, with plot twists aplenty. He expertly uses the heat of the coastal Florida milieu; the film practically sweats. The film launched the careers of Turner and Kasdan and jump-started a noir revival. Ted Danson, Mickey Rourke, and Richard Crenna provide solid support. Kasdan, Turner, and Hurt reunited in 1988 for The Accidental Tourist.

All Movie Guide