Factual error: Under US law neither Peter Lowenstein nor Oscar Grace would be allowed any level of participation in the investigation, arrest and prosecution of Ned Racine. Both have a highly visible social relationship with him, which disqualifies them from having anything to do with a criminal case against him. In fact as soon as he became a suspect in Edmund Walker's murder they would both be officially 'warned off' - told not to contact him again for any reason.
Body Heat (1981)
Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan
Starring: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson
Factual error: Regardless of how bad an attorney he is, Ned Racine must surely know that his acquittal for murder is a shoe-in. It's very doubtful that the prosecution would have even held out for remand in his case, and in fact they probably would not have even charged him in the first place. The fact that his fingerprints are on Edmund Walker's glasses is irrelevant. He and Racine were seen in public together, notably in the restaurant, and he freely admits to being in Walker's house. He could have handled Walker's glasses on any one of these occasions. The conversation Racine has with Ted about building the firebomb cannot be used in court, as Ted fires Racine as his lawyer at his second meeting; everything from the first is covered by attorney-client privilege. Maddy obviously isn't around to give evidence, and the yearbook entry Racine finds throws suspicion on her (and away from Racine) immediately. There are no witnesses and no forensic evidence, in fact there is nothing to support the prosecution case except a vague suspicion based upon his having had an affair with the widow-to-be. No court in the US would entertain the case for a minute.
Factual error: When Lowenstein meets Racine on the pier he proceeds to commit a series of appalling breaches of legal regulations, if not the law itself. He tells Racine - a man he acknowledges as a suspect in the murder case he is discussing - about the progress the investigating police are making, the nature and direction of their enquiries, the names of people they are questioning, and the vital importance of a missing piece of evidence. There is nothing in Lowenstein's character that would suggest that he is so unbelievably stupid to do something like this! He would be fired for divulging such sensitive information, and he is handing Racine a Get Out Of Jail Free Card - if the judge didn't dismiss the charges against him, he'd be obliged to declare a mistrial.
Trivia: Teddy Lewis tells Ned that "Matty" had him show her how to rig up a explosive with a delay to a door. So in theory Matty could have opened the door and escaped unscathed.
Ned: You better take me up on this quick. In about 45 minutes, I'm going to give up and go away.
Ned: You can stand here with me if you want but you'll have to agree not to talk about the heat.
Matty: I'm a married woman.
Ned: Meaning what?
Matty: Meaning I'm not looking for company.
Ned: Then you should have said I'm a happily married woman.
Ned: I need someone to take care of me, someone to rub my tired muscles, smooth out my sheets.
Matty: Get married.
Ned: I just need it for tonight.
Question: Matty introduces her friend as Mary Ann, but in the year book, the friend is actually Matty Tyler, and she is actually Mary Ann. Were both girls in on the scam? (00:31:22)
Answer: It appears that the real Matty Tyler was not initially in on the plan. It's confusing, and there're many plot holes, but it seems the fake "Matty" (Kathleen Turner) intended for the real Matty to eventually discover that her identity was being used (by Turner). The real Matty was then apparently blackmailing fake Matty to keep quiet. It appears that fake Matty intended to lure and then murder the real Matty, framing Ned Racine for her murder, as well as Edmund's. The real Matty's body was identified as being Edmond's wife through her dental records. Fake Matty probably intended for Ned to be killed in the explosion.
Question: Maddy pulls up to the house in her dead husband's Cadillac right around the time Ned was supposed to be at the boat house. Why would she be driving his car when at that point in time, she is supposed to be Mary Ann Simpson, her real identity? Ned was supposed to be dead at that point. The boat house could have blown up as she arrived and the fire dept. called by a neighbor would be on its way?
Answer: Maddie (who was the real Mary Ann Simpson) was deliberately being careless, dropping clues, and creating inconsistencies, like leaving Edmund's eyeglasses behind at the house when they moved his body. It was the same with Edmund's car. She was framing Ned as being the sole murderer who killed both (the real) Maddie and Edmund. She had specifically targeted Ned as her accomplice, knowing he was an incompetent lawyer who was careless about details.
Answer: It was all part of the plan to frame Ned, she purposely left clues behind as Ned would become suspicious of her. In the end, the dead body of the real Mary Ann Simpson was already in the houseboat. Thus everyone would think she's was dead when in fact she in sunning on a tropical beach.
Question: If Ned couldn't open the boathouse door and got blown up at the end - how did Kathleen Turner do it and survive the explosion?
Answer: Matty had Teddy tell her how to rig the bomb with a timer. She activated the bomb, escaped in a boat on the water, leaving Ned holding the bag. But, with a good lawyer, he would have easily beat the case. Unfortunately, he confesses to his cop friend, Oscar, in the jailhouse (which might be inadmissible).
Answer: Timer.
If you look at the yearbook, you will see Mary Ann Simpson was a competitive swimmer for 2 years.
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Answer: I noticed the problem of the introduction, also. It seemed like a major plot hole to me. There wasn't any material in the movie to support blackmail, etc by the real Matty. I hadn't thought of her possibly being in on the scam. If not, why wouldn't the real Matty have immediately blanched when hearing herself be introduced with the wrong name? So far, I agree with the OP's suggestion.
The real Maddy was at the house when Ned arrived. Presumably, she had already discovered what "Fake Maddy" was up to. It looked like Fake Maddy (Turner) gave the real Maddy a check, presumably a payoff to keep quiet. The real Maddy may or may not have known exactly what Fake Maddy was planning, but went along with being introduced as "Mary Ann." Also, the movie deliberately leaves details vague because it is a big plot twist at the end when Ned, and the audience, learns that Fake Maddy is really Mary Ann.
raywest ★