Body Heat

This one is difficult for me to pin. The first third is noir, with well paced dialogue, slow (as shit) scenes, jazz music, and predictable moments. At least there wasn't a shitty narration. I do love the music of the first act. I became sick to hear it give way to the orchestra instrumentals.
The second third is a murder plot, a little more interesting, actually humorous in some instances, and introducing stylized screenshots that made artful (and incredibly impossible) use of reflections.
The last third is a mystery, though this is very largely underplayed for the integrity of the first two acts. I was really digging the suspence, after nearly falling asleep through most of the movie. By the end, however, the lack of drama presented in revealing the widow's true intentions left me without caring what the ending was, no matter how awesome it looked (Ka - fucking - boom!). I was never shocked, but the movie seems to think that I'm supposed to be. Crossing outdated noir techniques with the popular eighties show-every-action aspect completely takes away any sense of hidden agenda. All I worried about was whether William Hurt's pals were gonna figure the plot out. THAT should have been the film's focus, given the way it was filmed.
As for the very ending; it's stupid. I don't need confirmation of what was going on, I didn't care. I doubt if anyone cared. I can draw my own conclusions if I want to, which is something that the film was real good about until it decided to pretend that I didn't know that she was still alive. I knew. And even if I didn't know, wouldn't it be a bonus to think that Hurt's character had gone delusional from the experience?
There's nothing outstanding about the way the movie looks. It looks... boring. The image reaks of disinterest. No distinct use of contradicting colors. No focus on neutrality versus polarity for dramatic effect. Just... filming people talking.

SCRIPT: alright
ACTING: respectable
DIRECTION: respectable
CONTENT: alright