An expat detective investigates the potential murder of the son of a wealthy Greek shipping magnate in Killer Heat, an adaptation of the Jo Nesbø novel The Jealousy Man now streaming on Prime Video. This sleepy mystery doesn’t offer much in the way of twists or thrills, but gorgeous location photography on the island of Crete and an appealing cast help it tread water for the duration.
Killer Heat stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Nick Bali, an ex-cop from New York City who finds himself working as a private investigator in Athens following a tough break-up back home. He’s recruited to Crete by American Penelope Vardakis (Shailene Woodley) to investigate the death of her husband Elias’s twin brother Leo (both played by Richard Madden), who fell to his death with free climbing a coastal cliff.
Local authorities have ruled the death an accident, but Penelope suspects foul play; local police, including suspicious detective Georges (Babou Ceesay) have been dissuaded from investigating further due to the wealthy Vardakis family’s standing in local politics. Nick, too, finds a lack of cooperation from the family among hidden secrets… including some from the woman who has hired him.
Gordon-Levitt’s self-destructive detective narrates Killer Heat in typical film noir fashion, with the film’s perpetually-sunny backdrops making for an interesting contrast to the narrative. In fitting with his character, perhaps, there’s a real lack of detective work on the part of Nick and a lot of meandering around Crete while the pieces of the puzzle seem to arbitrarily come together.
The climactic resolution in Killer Heat is that strange combination that can only be found in well-worn mystery novels: both implausible and predictable, we know what is about to unfold, but are baffled at how it could have come to be anyway. Its the kind of thing that could have only come from the pen of a writer, and has no relationship to the reality known by the audience.
Killer Heat was adapted from Nesbø’s novel by Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies) and Roberto Bentivegna (House of Gucci), and judging by the resulting film, neither writer managed to fully embrace the pulp narrative that has made the author a favorite at airport newsstands. But director Philippe Lacôte (King of Kings) makes up for a weak narrative by relying on the local atmosphere and a trio of engaging performances.
Scenic shots of Crete from cinematographer Andrew Dunn (Endless Love) are not only used in establishing shots; most scenes throughout the duration of Killer Heat take place on the locale’s beaches, harbors, desert valleys, and rocky mountains. It’s the next best thing to taking a vacation on the Greek island yourself.
The always-affable Gordon-Levitt is an unusual choice as a noir lead, and makes for more of a soft-boiled private detective. Still, he’s a relatable stand-in for the audience as someone with just barely enough interest in seeing this case through, if only to stick around on Crete for 90 minutes. Woodley, too, is effective as the American caught up in this Greek family, while Madden steals his scenes as identical twins both aggressive and passive.
Killer Heat lacks the kind of engaging mystery most viewers look for a in good detective story, but makes up for it in general ambience. Viewers looking for an easy way to pass 90 minutes could do a lot worse than what’s on display here.
One Response
this movie was ok up until the scene at the docks where three two people are killed and there is no police follow up whatsoever. like, ok movie you solved your mystery about one murder but you just introduced two more! movies like this need to be believable but this one lost me there