Film Noir: 1980s

Hi film fans!

Do you like "film noir?"  I do!

The dark, steamy, seedy stories of woman as vixen are fun!  Recently, I've been re-watching the great classics from the 80s, and these films are something else!  Talk about great acting and tense plots...wow!

Forget running out and seeing the hottest new film:  There are treasures awaiting you from the past.

First, if you missed any of the four, be sure to move them to the top of your viewing schedule.  If you have seen all four, try seeing them again. I did, and I could not believe how good each was.  I had forgotten plotlines and details that made each film a joy.

Let's take a peek at each one.

The Postman Always Rings Twice.

When Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange team up to do the remake of the 1946 version, which was based on a 1935 novel, they set out to create a better story.   Do they ever succeed!  While the censors in 1946 would not let Lana Turner and John Garfield heat up the screen too much, they gave the 1981 cast more leeway to get spicy!  Just a reminder about the basic plot:  a drifter enters a rural restaurant, meets the sexy young wife of an old Greek man who owns the eating establishment, and the two of them get cozy.  That's when Cora (Jessica Lange) persuades Frank (Jack Nicholson) to kill her husband!  Do they?  No spoiler, but you will be glued to your seat as you watch the volatile lovers conspire to do murder!  You will squirm as they bungle the plan only to become more expert with time!

Body Heat:

When Kathleen Turner and John Hurt teamed up, sparks ignited on the screen!  The basic plot: a lawyer struggling to earn a living meets the wife of a wealthy businessman.  As you might expect, the two get close fast, and before long the lawyer is hooked.  When you see some of the bedroom scenes, and the hot chemistry between the actors, you won't believe you're watching a movie made some forty years ago.  By the way, the story takes place during a heat wave in Florida, and is there any better way to stay cool than to peel off one's clothes?  Haha!  Matty (Kathleen Turner) tells Ned (Willian Hurt) that she hates her husband, and, truth to tell, simply wants to start a new life...with his money!  Financial gain is usually a motif in film noir.  Naturally, the naive lawyer wants to help his lover get free of her marital bonds and get rich and eventually enjoy the money with her!  The best way to do it?  Kill the husband, of course!  I won't be a spoiler, but Matty is one clever lady.  She's a vixen who has the chump do her dirty work for her.  Want to know more?  The film awaits you!

Sea of Love:

If in Film Noir the women are vixens, the men are almost always losers.  Enter Al Pacino.  He admits to being a cop on the way down.  He's got alcohol problems and a marriage on the skids.  He's a maverick, with a talent for having things go wrong.  He's a twenty year veteran of police work with little to show for it except a battered sense of self.  Small wonder he's ripe for the pickin' when he meets Helen, played by the gravely-voiced, seductive Ellen Barkin.  Never mind that she's a prime suspect in a murder.  Never mind that the cop knows better than to cavort with a possible murderer.  As the music from The Sea of Love pounds out a gripping beat, we wonder if the cop will die at the hand of the femme fatale.  Oh my, what drama!  What grit!  Al Pacino brilliantly embodies the cop on the edge, and as we move toward the edge with him we can't help but bite our fingernails.

Black Widow:

FBI agent Alexandra (Debra Winger) has had a checkered career with the bureau.  She's often going against the boss's directives.  She becomes fixated on a bizarre set of events:  rich older men, not long after marrying a beautiful and smart lady (Theresa Russell), end up dead!   The deaths seem like they are due to natural causes.  But every time, the young bride gets rich.  Talk about noir!  Of course the federal agent must figure out what in the world is going on.  How should she do that?  By becoming best friends with the suspect!  Your skin will crawl as the two new "friends" sip margaritas on a beach in Hawaii and idly chat about their lovers.  It gets more juicy:  the FBI agent and the suspect love the same man!  No spoiler, but think of all the possible outcomes!  Debra Winger steals the show with her flowing 80s hair, fearlessness, and boldness.  Theresa Russell dazzles as the black widow.

Summary:

All four films are winners.  Each is different.  Each hits home.  Sit back with your favorite snack and enter the dark, scary world of psychopaths and lovers.  You will enjoy every minute of  it.