Question: Why didn't Edmund or Heather (Edmund's niece) recognize that the girl posing as Matty wasn't actually Matty? More specifically, with regard to the restaurant scene (where Ned runs into fake Matty and Edmund), wouldn't Edmund obviously realise that the girl he's with is NOT actually his wife? Also, during the scene where they meet with Edmund's lawyer and discuss the invalid will - wouldn't Heather (Edmund's niece) have recognized that the person masquerading as Maddy wasn't actually Maddy?
Body Heat (1981)
1 answered question since 29 Dec '22, 20:58
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Answer: Neither Edmund or young Heather had ever met the real Maddy. The fake Maddy, who is Mary Ann Simpson (played by Kathleen Turner), had stolen the real Maddy's identity before meeting Edmund. She was specifically looking for a rich man to victimize (and murder) and also for an incompetent lawyer (Ned Racine) to drag into her plot. The real Maddy discovered Mary Ann's scheme and showed up to blackmail her imposter, for which Mary Ann later murdered her. Mary Ann and Maddy attended high school together and had a similar appearance, which is why Mary Ann stole her identity.
raywest ★