Killer Heat ** (2024, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Richard Madden) – Classic Movie Review 13,186

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a private eye hired by a femme fatale (Shailene Woodley) to investigate the death of her husband’s identical twin brother, in the 2024 hard-boiled crime thriller film Killer Heat.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in the undistinguished 2024 hard-boiled crime thriller film Killer Heat as a haunted Athens-based American private detective, Nick Bali, who goes to the island of Crete and is hired by Penelope Vardakis (Shailene Woodley) to look into the climbing accident death of the identical twin brother (Richard Madden) of her husband Elias (also Richard Madden). Nick Bali, also known as The Jealousy Man, uncovers a dangerous love triangle against the background of a powerful family running most of the business on the island.

It is directed by Philippe Lacôte, and written by Roberto Bentivegna and Matt Charman, based on Jo Nesbø’s short story The Jealousy Man.

Killer Heat is a very good looking neo noir with all the regulation characters and genre trappings, but alas it is a failed one. Ok, they are hard to do, but this one struggles, with the mechanics turning visibly and sometimes painfully throughout, though it remains just about watchable for fans of the genre. Nothing can get round the idea that the story is beyond implausible and also easy to see through. It’s a mystery that’s too easy to rumble, so easy that it’s incredible that it takes the canny private eye so long to fathom out. We’re there before you, Gordon-Levitt, and that’s not good in this kind of thriller. However, it helps that it’s a brisk run-through of what feels like a short story at 97 minutes.

The characters aren’t real for a moment. They have no flesh and blood. They are mere stereotypes, or archetypes if you want to be kind. Ok, the film manages some tension, intrigue, twists, and amusing retro-style dialogue, and even some action at the end. That’s what makes it watchable.

Oh and the actors. The three actors try their darndest to make it work. Gordon-Levitt may be the best actor of the three, but he can’t persuade that he’s this character. So basically he is miscast. His tormented character has his demons, with problems back in the US, though they are actually quite dull. Hiding behind a silly hat, woolly beard and dark glasses doesn’t make the character any more interesting. They are just actors’ props. Woodley is a rather good femme fatale, convincingly tough, a real hard nut, and Madden enjoys himself rather extravagantly as both twins, bringing more than a touch of the campy to a film that doesn’t really require campy, even if it’s lively fun. Babou Ceesay is rather good as Georges Mensah, the officer in charge of the investigation.

Though gorgeous scenery isn’t everything, it helps a lot that the filming locations include the lovely looking Greek island of Crete.

Principal photography began in April 2023 and the film was released by Amazon Prime Video on September 26, 2024.

The cast are: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Nick Bali, Shailene Woodley as Penelope Vardakis, Richard Madden as Leo and Elias Vardakis, Clare Holman as Audrey, Babou Ceesay as Georges Mensah, and Abbey Lee as Monique.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,186

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