MovieChat Forums > Body Heat (1981) Discussion > SPOILER ALERT, at the end...

SPOILER ALERT, at the end...

posted 2 years ago by TheMan18 (13015)
10 replies | jump to latest

... why does she decide to fake her own death via that explosion and dental teeth records and also frame William Hurt's character for her murder?

Didn't she, besides getting him to agree to kill her (husband? or lover?), also fall in love with him?

Why couldn't they somehow get together and escape, immorality of their criminal and wrongful deeds, despite (haha) that woman being gorgeous and whatnot (and this film at least wants us to UNDERSTAND the characters and get behind them somehow, even if it doesn't completely excuse their behaviour, and allows audience to make own judgments), notwithstanding?

Many films criminal couples either escaped or attempted to escape. Think of films like Bonnie & Clyde (1967) (SPOILERS, yeah, the police DO catch up with them and SPOILERS, gun them down at the end, but neither of the two people abandon and frame the other) or "Natural Born Killers" (1994) or even in "The Specialist" (1994) where, although they, albeit not legally, killed or one of them did kill BAD guys (Stallone did, mostly via explosives), and the woman (Sharon Stone) was even CLOSE to betraying Stallone's character and endangering his life, at the end, they drove off together as they really fell in love with each other. Or "Basic Instinct" (1992) where Michael Douglas' character and Sharon Stone basically fell in love with each other. And other examples, including the Hong Kong film "Intruder" (1997) with a female and a male criminal duo.

So why does Matty betray him and not somehow get him to secretly come with her, why fake her own death and frame him for her murder? Did she fall out of love with him somehow?

[–] jcnyclv (1557) 2 years ago

I think she used him from day one. Matty was an extremely cold, calculating woman who planned the whole thing the moment she met Ned. I don't think she ever had feelings for him. She played him like a fiddle. That's my take on it.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 2 years ago

Only points of disagreement:

Turner herself claims Matty did fall for Ned, though reasonable minds could still disagree.

Matty was planning this well before she met Ned. She sought him out after learning he'd screwed up the Gourson will.

[–] jcnyclv (1557) 2 years ago

It's very possible she was planning it before they met, and once she met Ned, she felt he was the perfect patsy. That's very possible.

I will never agree that Matty fell for him. I just don't see it. Plus, she looked so content lying in the sun at the end 😀

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 2 years ago

It's very possible she was planning it before they met, and once she met Ned, she felt he was the perfect patsy. That's very possible.

True, but remember, "Michael Glenn with Bashford-Hillerman" specifically told Matty about Ned and the Gourson screw-up.

And just before she went to the boathouse, Matty herself admitted, "I did arrange to meet you, Ned, but that all changed ... I fell in love with you."

As for whether she ever truly loved him or was happy or not at the end, Turner herself maintains Matty fell in love with Ned, but I maintain that reasonable minds can disagree. It's intentionally ambiguous.

The final working screenplay even spells out the ambiguity: in close-up, what we think is Matty's tear drop turns out to be a sweat drop. Matty's a cipher; we're never meant to be sure what she thinks or feels, just what she wants and what she'll do to get it.

[–] TheMan18 (13015) 2 years ago

But if she really did fall for him and have feelings, why did she have so little problem with betraying him at the end by framing him for her "murder" and then happily or otherwise sailing off to disappear in Tahiti?

[–] Rusty (548) a year ago

Because she was a relentless predator but once she had achieved everything she wanted, fulfilled her life’s purpose ‘to be rich and live in exotic lands’, she has time to reflect on her actions and quite possibly realised that she had real feelings for Ned after all.

She’s certainly not content in that final shot so maybe her sociopathic behaviour is finally catching up with her and her soul is not at rest. The film hints at this possibility at the very least.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) a year ago

There's the old saying:

"Sometimes you've got to make the choice that breaks your heart but gives you peace."

Maybe it broke Matty's heart to leave Ned behind, but it gave her the peace of mind of keeping all the money for herself and living in an exotic land.

Not typically what that saying is applied, but it works.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 2 years ago

... why does she decide to fake her own death via that explosion and dental teeth records and also frame William Hurt's character for her murder?

Because that was her plan BEFORE she actually met Ned in person. She hadn't fallen for him yet and didn't believe she ever would. But she did, nonetheless, fall for him, in my opinion. Turner herself shares this opinion. In an interview about the film, Kathleen Turner said that Matty DID fall in love with Ned but still gave precedence to her long-term plan.

She'd been hatching this for years, possibly even before she met and married Edmund, since she was already using an assumed name, definitely after the really Matty Tyler showed up. No way was she going to share her gravy train indefinitely.

So she sought out Ned, specifically because he'd screwed up a will before.

It was only after her plans were well under way that she actually developed feelings for Ned. But by then it was too late; her plans were too far along to risk failure by including Ned.

Remember, she was relentless, "the kind of person who'd do whatever it takes." If sacrificing her love by framing or even killing Ned served her end goal, escaping with Edmund's fortune, then you'd better believe she'll do so without hesitation.

Besides, she couldn't risk bringing Ned with her. Suppose he screws up? She chose him specifically because he was an incompetent attorney with a weakness for pretty ladies. Why would she risk running off with him, only to lose him to some resort bimbo or worse, have him leave her and somehow take some or all of her money?

[–] MCguy (1135) 2 years ago

Great analysis

However, "Why would she risk running off with him, only to lose him to some resort bimbo or worse, have him leave her and somehow take some or all of her money?", it's more likely he would screwup and lead the cops to them.

[–] ccr1633 (1523) 2 years ago

So she sought out Ned, specifically because he'd screwed up a will before.

Yes. The key scene, a brief one that flew by me the first time I saw Body Heat, was toward the end when Ned was at a bar in Miami. He ran into a lawyer from the firm that sued Ned for malpractice. This lawyer felt a bit guilty about the whole ordeal and made an offhand remark that he tried to steer some business Ned's way, a real looker of a woman who he met at a party years earlier. That woman was none other than Matty Walker. At Ned's insistence, the lawyer admitted that he may have mentioned to her the Gourson case in which Ned had messed up a will. Before even meeting Ned, Matty had already hatched her plans for him.