KILLER HEAT
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Richard Madden, Clare Holman, Babou Ceesay, Abbey Lee, Eleni Vergeti, and Manos Gavras
Director: Philippe Lacôte
PRESTON
An office with frosted glass and stenciled black lettering. A shadow creeps across the wall as a fan revolves at an unusable pace. An alcoholic private investigator (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) relies on his painful past to drive him to ask the dangerous questions in order to get to the bottom of the case. Each step is conveyed through the inner monologue of our tortured hero, who doesn’t mind playing the bad guy in pursuit of greyish justice. Place all these film noir clichés in the setting of the Greek landscape, and the result is an altogether predictable and unremarkable flick.
QUENTIN
Despite me calling the ending within literally the first five minutes, not to mention Joseph Gordon-Levitt being somewhat miscast, Killer Heat is an entertaining enough diversion for fans of hard-boiled detective noirs, especially considering it’s a straight-to-Prime release. All the genre clichés are there, including Nick Bali’s (Gordon-Levitt) internal monologue, but those same clichés are part of why I like these types of stories. As for Gordon-Levitt, he’s generally fine, but the character would have been better played by someone who conveys “man with demons” a bit better. Slight flaws aside, including unnecessary white pants slander, Killer Heat is a breezy beach read of a movie.
KATIE
Killer Heat is a good-looking but undercooked murder mystery with a distinctive noir style. Guided by private investigator Nick Bali’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) classic detective internal monologue, Killer Heat nominally explores a suspicious case involving American expat Penelope (Shailene Woodley), but all I can truly recall is a film full of beautiful scenery and beautiful people. That isn't inherently bad, but the story loses momentum due to how predictable the plot and dialogue are (to the extent I could predict the next line or upcoming twist on multiple occasions). Overall, the performances are good and the outfits are better, but Killer Heat favours style over substance.
