William Hurt is not the most consistent actor for me, but he came out nowhere like a cannon ball with Eyewitness, Altered State and Body Heat all in 1980-81.
New York janitor, Daryll Deever, (Hurt) is obsessed with TV journalist, Tony Sokolow, (Weaver). He tapes her news show every night so he can watch it when he returns from his job.
A wealthy man suspected of criminal connections is murdered in Deever's office building and Tony suspects Deever knows something about it. She pursues him for information, a pursuit Daryll encorages and a "cat and mouse" game ensues. This convinces the real killers that Daryll knows too much about the murder and they pursue the two.
Peter Yates directed this thriller and Christopher Plummer was also in it.
Todd Mason will have the links.
14 comments:
Still have the hots for Sigourney Weaver. Nothing sexier than a smart woman. I recall parts of this movie, like when Daryl jumps in a trash compactor, but not the whole of it. Time for a rental.
Loved William Hurt's performance in BODY HEAT!
I remember Hurt's first performance a couple of years before that, in a wonderful made-for-television film on PBS' Great Performances series called VERNA: USO GIRL. Sissy Spacek is simply wonderful as the untalented title character "entertaining" the troops in WWII Belgium (along with Sally Kellerman and Howard Da Silva, who won an Emmy), who is convinced she has "a gift" to entertain. (Kellerman says of her, "She's invented a new way to sing flat and dance clumsy.") Hurt is the soldier who falls in love with her. Albert Innaurato adapted Paul Gallico's short story.
If you aren't already in love with Sissy (as I am) you will be after seeing this.
/end unsolicited testimonial
Jeff M.
It's ahrd to even look at Hurt these days, especially thinkinf where he was 20-30 years ago.
Sigourney, on the other hand, is still wonderful.
Jeff M.
I remember quite enjoying this one - I think it was released as THE JANITOR in my neck of the woods (not exactly a sexy title ...)
I don't think I've ever heard of it at all. Will need to check it out. . . .
The first three were aces for sure. Then his performances began to seem too ponderous for me with an exception here or there. My favorite Weaver movie was THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY. Time for a salute to her.
I remember seeing this one and not really buying Hurt as a janitor, but it still had some good moments. I haven't seen it in 30 years; I wonder how it would hold up if I saw it today.
The Alien trilogy
Ghostbusters
Gorillas in the Mist
Galaxy Quest
We also saw her in her Tony award-winning performance in David Mamet's HURLYBURLY (opposite William Hurt).
Jeff M.
Patti - I've always liked William Hurt :-). Thanks for reminding me of this one.
I think I saw this in the dim long ago, but maybe it's time for a rental. I liked William Hurt in several movies. Somehow he always manages to surprise me. I even (gasp!) liked him as Mr. Rochester.
Yep, it was called The Janitor in the UK. I remember enjoying it on VHS back in the day.
William Hurt in BODY HEAT was amazing. I also liked him in CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD, although Marlee Matlin owned that movie. As for Sigourney--smart is sexy, statuesque is sexy. And remember HER version of Snow White?
I didn't really like this movie very much, but then the only thing I can remember about it is a scene where Hurt was polishing the floor with a machine while something happened...
I like Sigourney Weaver but I don't think I've ever heard of this film.
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