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Body of Evidence (1993 film)

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Body of Evidence
Theatrical release poster
Directed byUli Edel
Written byBrad Mirman
Produced byDino De Laurentiis
Starring
CinematographyDouglas Milsome
Edited byThom Noble
Music byGraeme Revell
Production
company
Dino De Laurentiis Communications[1]
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer[1]
Release dates
  • January 7, 1993 (1993-01-07) (Ziegfeld Theatre)
  • January 15, 1993 (1993-01-15) (United States)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[2]
Box office$38 million[3]

Body of Evidence is a 1993 erotic thriller film directed by Uli Edel, written by Brad Mirman, and starring Madonna and Willem Dafoe, with Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer, Julianne Moore, and Jürgen Prochnow in supporting roles.

Widely considered to be a vanity project for Madonna and derided for its plot inconsistencies and incongruous dialogue, it marked her fourth film performance to be universally panned by critics, following Shanghai Surprise, Who's That Girl, and Bloodhounds of Broadway.[4]

In France and Japan, the film was released under the name Body. In Japan, Madonna's other 1993 film Dangerous Game was released there as Body II even though the films have nothing in common nor are related to each other in narrative.

Plot

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Wealthy Portland resident Andrew Marsh dies from complications stemming from an erotic incident involving bondage and homemade pornography. The main suspect is his lover Rebecca Carlson, who proclaims her innocence to lawyer Frank Dulaney. Frank agrees to represent her, believing Rebecca to be innocent.

District Attorney Robert Garrett seeks to prove that Rebecca deliberately induced Marsh's fatal heart attack with vigorous sexual activity to receive the $8 million he left her in his will. Rebecca claims to be unaware that she is a beneficiary. As the trial begins, Rebecca and Frank enter a sadomasochistic relationship behind the back of Frank's unsuspecting wife, Sharon.

Frank conspicuously lusts after Rebecca, and she leads him on, alternately enticing and then rejecting him. During their first sexual encounter, Rebecca subjugates Frank by securing his arms behind his back using his own belt. While he is restrained, she asserts her dominance by pouring hot wax on his naked body before she will allow him sexual satisfaction.

Marsh's doctor, Alan Paley, provides testimony in court that implicates Rebecca in the crime, however, Frank is able to play an answer machine message from Paley that ostensibly destroys Paley's credibility as a witness, as Paley was trying to blackmail Rebecca into a sexual relationship with him. Rebecca, pleased with Frank's performance in court, reaches her hand into his underwear in a crowded elevator, amused by Frank's frantic attempts to appear impassive. Despite Frank's fear of the implications of being observed, he eagerly accedes to Rebecca's insistence that they then engage in public sex in the parking garage of the courthouse.

An ex-lover of Rebecca's, Jeffrey Roston, testifies that he also had a heart condition and changed his will to favour Rebecca, and that she was sexually domineering and compelled him to engage in sexual activity with no regard to his health. Roston describes an incident that is nearly identical to Frank's own experience of being humiliated by Rebecca, noticeably affecting Frank's composure in court. Frank angrily drags Rebecca to a side room, telling her their affair is over. Rebecca responds in kind.

Sharon confronts Frank about the affair, claiming to have deduced it from a phone call from Rebecca, as well as the intimate burn marks on Frank's body from Rebecca's earlier 'game'. Frank goes to Rebecca's home and accuses her of deliberately telling his wife about the relationship. Rebecca taunts Frank with what she might have revealed, and he shoves her to the ground. Rebecca taunts Frank again with how far she has been able to coerce him, opening her robe and masturbating in front of him, knowing that despite his fury Frank will still be unable to resist her. However, when Rebecca pulls out handcuffs and manoeuvres Frank into being restrained so that she can impose her will once more, Frank realizes and wrestles them from her, forcibly cuffing Rebecca's wrists to a bedpost so that she is at his mercy instead, turning the tables on her for the first time.

Footage from Marsh's home video reveals that he had an affair with his secretary, Joanne Braslow, who is a key witness against Rebecca. He also had previously left Joanne more money in his will, changing it only after beginning his relationship with Rebecca. Joanne says that she was hurt but she loved him and would never hurt him. However, there is circumstantial evidence that implicates Joanne in Marsh unknowingly ingesting a fatal dose of cocaine. Rebecca suggests to Frank that the secretary is trying to frame her, but Frank is now himself deeply suspicious of Rebecca.

Rebecca takes the stand and her surprising testimony that Roston had an affair with another man convinces the jury, which acquits her. Before leaving court, she mockingly thanks Frank, and whispers to him that she is indeed guilty of the crime of which she has just been found innocent.

Frank still feels compelled to go to Rebecca's home, where he overhears an incriminating conversation between her and Alan Paley. He confronts the co-conspirators, realizing that Paley is also in thrall to Rebecca, and had deliberately perjured himself to make her appear innocent. Rebecca is amused by Frank's discovery of her manipulating him, but Paley is shocked to learn that she was in a sexual relationship with Frank as well. Rebecca ridicules both men, bluntly acknowledging that she used her sexual prowess to control both of them, as well as Marsh. Paley realizes she does not care about him and becomes enraged.

After a struggle with Frank, who tries to save Rebecca, Paley shoots her twice. She plunges from a window to her death. Paley is arrested for murder.

Before leaving the scene with his wife to repair their relationship, Frank tells Garret he should have won the case, with Garrett replying: "I did".

Cast

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Production

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Body of Evidence was filmed in Portland, Oregon, with the Pittock Mansion serving as a primary location.[5] The cemetery scene featured in the beginning of the film was shot on location at Lone Fir Cemetery.[6]

Julianne Moore said her nude scene in this movie was "just awful": "I was too young to know better. It was the first time I'd been asked to get naked and it turned out to be completely extraneous and gratuitous."[7]

Release

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Box office

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Body of Evidence performed poorly at the box office.[8] In its second week it experienced a 60% drop.[9] It grossed $13 million in the United States and Canada and $25 million internationally for a worldwide total of $38 million.[3]

Censorship

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The film originally received the rare NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.[10] The first theatrical release was censored for the purpose of obtaining an R rating, reducing the film's running time from 101 to 99 minutes.[11] The video premiere, however, restored the deleted material.

Critical response

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Body of Evidence has an 8% rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 38 reviews, with a rating average of 3.10/10. The critical consensus reads, "Body of Evidence's sex scenes may be kinky, but the ludicrous concept is further undone by the ridiculous dialogue."[12] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 29 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[13] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "C" on scale of A+ to F.[14] The film appeared on the 2005 list of Roger Ebert's most hated films.[15] The screenplay and performances were especially disparaged.[16] His colleague Gene Siskel called Body of Evidence a "stupid and empty thriller" that is worse than her softcore coffee table book Sex.[17] Julianne Moore later regretted acting in the film and went on to call it "a big mistake".[18]

Accolades

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Award Category Recipient Result
Fantasporto Best Film Uli Edel Nominated
Golden Raspberry Awards[19][20] Worst Picture Dino De Laurentiis Nominated
Worst Director Uli Edel Nominated
Worst Actor Willem Dafoe Nominated
Worst Actress Madonna Won
Worst Supporting Actress Anne Archer Nominated
Worst Screenplay Brad Mirman Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Most Desirable Female Madonna Nominated
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards Worst Actress Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Body of Evidence (1993)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  2. ^ "Body of Evidence". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Klady, Leonard (January 3, 1994). "Int'l top 100 earn $8 bil". Variety. p. 1.
  4. ^ Rainer, Peter (January 23, 1993). "Madonna as Actress? The 'Evidence' Is In". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Marissa (October 14, 2015). "Body of Evidence: Boobs, bondage, and the Pittock Mansion". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Bergen & Davis 2021, p. 13.
  7. ^ Mitchell, Sean (September 28, 1997). "Not Strictly Naked Ambition". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020.
  8. ^ Fox, David J. (January 19, 1993). "Weekend Box Office 'Body' Struggles to Make the Top 5". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015.
  9. ^ Fox, David J. (January 26, 1993). "Weekend Box Office 'Aladdin's' Magic Carpet Ride". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  10. ^ Fox, David J. (August 31, 1992). "Madonna Set to Push Limits Once More With NC-17 Movie". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015.
  11. ^ Fox, David J. (October 30, 1992). "Madonna's Movie Will Be Edited for 'R'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
  12. ^ Body of Evidence, Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved May 16, 2022
  13. ^ Body of Evidence Reviews, Metacritic, retrieved March 20, 2022
  14. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  15. ^ "Ebert's Most Hated | Roger Ebert | Roger Ebert". December 19, 2012.
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 15, 1993). "Body Of Evidence". Chicago Sun-Times. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
  17. ^ Siskel, Gene (January 15, 1993). "Madonna's 'Body' Is More Laughable Than Her Book". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  18. ^ Rochlin, Margy (February 11, 2001). "FILM; Hello Again, Clarice, But You've Changed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  19. ^ "1993 RAZZIEŽ Nominees & "Winners"". The Official RAZZIEŽ Forum. Archived from the original on February 17, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  20. ^ James, Caryn (January 17, 1993). "FILM VIEW; Madonna's Best Role Remains Madonna". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2010.

Sources

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  • Bergen, Teresa; Davis, Heide (2021). Historic Cemeteries of Portland, Oregon. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-467-14861-0.
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