Raw Heat

Starring:Pierce Brosnan, JoBeth Williams, Virginia Madsen, Georgia Brown, Murphy Cross, Ruben Pla, Yuri Ogawa, Gary Bolen, Terry Kohl
Director: Jerry London
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

It gradually dawns on therapist Tess Parker (JoBeth Williams) that the shocking claims her patient Carla (Virginia Madsen) makes about a former lover dovetail to a startling degree with facts she learns about Paul Tomlinson (Pierce Brosnan), the smooth English professor she's currently wacky over. Is Paul merely a feckless womanizer, or are there darker secrets lurking about his former wife's demise? You won't care if you're a Pierce Brosnan fan (and if you aren't, you still won't find out), because this made-for-TV erotic thriller is basically a vehicle for his talents. There is a solid performance by Brosnan, who cleverly uses deficiencies in the dialogue to suggest his character's duplicity. The lovely and nervous Virginia Madsen is always in search of an emotional memory not hinted at in the script. JoBeth Williams looks like she'd rather be saying, "Don't go into the light!" Jagged Edge meets Spellbound, then gets bored and has 9½ Weeks over for the weekend; they get drunk late at night and try to pretend they're variously North by Northwest and Suspicion. Plunders the most unmistakable of Hitchcock set pieces to string together numerous erotic interludes, surprisingly to no ill effect. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews:

TOO MANY TWISTS CAN SPOIL THE PRETZEL.......2005-03-23

Is dashing Pierce Brosnan a wife murderer?
Is he a manipulative cad? Is he telling the truth or is Virginia Madsen? And why is an average looking Jobeth Williams such a desired commodity for Brosnan?
These and many other questions are left unanswered in this made for TV dud. The script tries to be Hitchcockian in its many twists, but Hitch knew how to make those twists convincing, whereas the writers of RAW HEAT merely hoped for any similarities. Williams as a shrink does a real no-no in revealing something a client told her in confidence; she also vacillates back and forth in trying to assess Brosnan's duplicity, and the end is so uh-oh, what have I done, it makes no sense. And who really killed Brosnan's wife?
Brosnan is an automaton, capitalizing on his suave looks, and Madsen shows some of the talent that would eventually lead to her Oscar nominated performance in SIDEWAYS. But RAW HEAT is DEAD COLD in my book.

It's GOOD!.......2005-03-23

The cheesy late 80's-early 90's saxophone aside, it's pretty good, for something of this genre. THe first love screen between the two main characters is red-hot, as are the rest of them. There's a lot of twists and turns that leave you wondering if Paul (Brosnan's character) is bad or good, but ultimately, you realize it's Pierce Brosnan, who cares, I just want him. :)
Solid work from everyone and a decent way to waste a weekend or weekday afternoon.

Twisted.......2004-01-29

I thought it had great apeal. Very twisted turn of events that keep you hanging and guessing.

Re-Release of "Victim of Love".......2003-01-01

A word to the wise: I purchased this for my wife's Pierce Brosnan collection only to discover that it is a re-titled re-release of "Victim of Love", which we already owned on DVD. Buyer beware: two versions of the same DVD are being listed for sale simultaneously under different titles and packaging without any disclosure of the duplicate content.

Steamy, Hot Movie.......2001-07-18

I was not expecting a good movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. I highly recommend this movie. Pierce Bronson is sexy and so is Jo Beth Williams. A real thriller-under-rated.

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