Heat *** (1986, Burt Reynolds, Karen Young, Peter MacNicol) – Classic Movie Review 10,224

Directors Dick Richards and (uncredited) Jerry Jameson’s 1986 neo-noir action crime thriller Heat stars Burt Reynolds, Karen Young, Peter MacNicol, Howard Hesseman and Diana Scarwid.

William Goldman scripts Heat from his own 1985 novel, a routine yarn about a mean hunk, Nick Scaliente (Burt Reynolds), an ex-mercenary working as a bodyguard in Las Vegas instructing meek young Cyrus Kinnick Peter MacNicol and helping an old girlfriend, his prostitute friend Holly (Karen Young), take revenge on the thug who attacked her.

Reynolds does his hard man turn well enough and there is a watchable cast to help fill up the script’s empty spaces.

Reynolds’s first film away from a major Hollywood company in 20 years went cold at the box office, having cost $17,000,000 and taking only $2,793,214. It is made by Escalante Productions and Elliott Kastner Productions and distributed by Cannon Film Distributors (1987) (UK) and New Century Vista Film Company (1987) (US),

Richards and Reynolds did not see eye to eye and they allegedly came to blows. Reynolds allegedly hit Richards, the director left the project, and there was publicity about the latter suing for $25 million. Reynolds was ordered to pay $500,000 in damages, recalling in 1996: ‘I spent $500,000 for that punch.’ Jerry Jameson then finished the film. He was known for directing TV shows, the first of which was an episode of Dan August with the young Reynolds, and he later directed an episode of Reynolds’s crime series B L Stryker.

The Directors Guild of America ruled that Richards was responsible for 41 per cent of the finished film and Jerry Jameson 31 per cent. Jameson went uncredited.

It is Richards’s last film as director, having optioned, developed and co-produced Tootsie.

Goldman said six directors worked on this film at different times. He recalled: ‘One of my major disasters with a record six directors who toiled on what was only a 36-day shoot.’ Original director Robert Altman quit when US Immigration denied a visa to his Canadian cameraman Pierre Mignot.

Reynolds initiated the film after reading the novel and calling Goldman about filming it. Reynolds was paid $2 million.

It was remade in 2015 as Wild Card starring Jason Statham, written by Goldman and directed by Simon West.

Also in the cast are Joe Mascolo, Neill Barry, Alfie Wise, Deborah Rush, Wendell Burton, Joanne Jackson, Joe Klecko, Peter Koch and Joseph Bernard.

Reynolds’s next film is Malone (1987). He recalled: ‘I don’t think Heat and Malone are the movies that are going to change my career, but at least they are serious films.’

Burton Leon Reynolds Jr (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018).

William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,224

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