Thief of Hearts

I saw this on late-night TV some time ago and didn't think it was too bad. The plot is a bit far-fetched, but the film actually gets better as it goes along, so it's certainly worth a look. People say David Caruso is the only good thing in this film, but I didn't think he was very good. A bit too extreme for my taste. Shooting a cop and then losing his mind didn't do anything for me. I thought the husband and his business friend were great. The music is quite good also, and a lot of the warehouse scenes are quite well done, with lots of tension. If you want something to kick-back with on a Saturday night, this would be one film to try. Nothing overly-special, but not bad to say the least!

This film starts out with a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and into the City of San Francisco with fantastic music in the background and through out the entire picture. John Getz (Ray Davis), " A Day without a Mexican" plays the role as a husband who writes children's books and has reached the top of his field. Ray is married to Barbara Williams,(Mickey Davis),"Forever Evil" who is getting rather unsatisfied with her marriage as her husband is always at his typewriter and never in bed where she wants him. Steven Bauer,(Scott Muller) "The Lost City", actually runs into Mickey Davis and things progress to the boiling point between the both of them. David Caruso,(Buddy Calamara),"Blue City", plays the role of a slime ball, who is a very evil character and looks quite young in 1984. Great tale with plenty of twists and turns and I simply Love The Ending. Enjoy

I saw this film IN 1984 and loved it. To this day, every time I see Steven Bauer, David Caruso or Barbara Willians I flashback to this film. It left a lasting impression on me both for its chilling concept and it's execution of the story. The acting, soundtrack, locations and cinematography were all great and the film was both intimate and erotic yet as chilling and scary as a Hitchcock film. The chemistry between the leads was electric and believable. Steven Bauer's looks certainly didn't hurt either. I'm surprised it got some bad reviews ... it's one that will always stick in my mind as very entertaining.

Worthless Waste A thief steals the diary of rich bored housewife and uses her secret desires to seduce her. The premise is intriguing. The movie is NOT. Instead we drift from one meaningless scene to another without any point. These characters and their actions (or rather lack there of) are meaningless, stupid, and more importantly boring. The story is utterly lacking of any substance. Even the climax is dull. SPOILER WARNING: The final scene is laughably bad as David Caruso is shot and killed by Steven Bauer in order to spare Barbara Williams having to shoot him herself and endure the guilt of taking another human life, even in justified self defense. "I don't even remember pulling the trigger." she says. The police simply wrap up the shooting a Barbara Williams having shot an intruder in her home. OK, is the audience really dumb enough to believe this or just the director. The police will find VERY BASIC BALLISTIC FACTS. 1. Her revolver is cold. 2 Her revolver does not smell like gunpowder. 3. There are six live rounds in her gun. 4. Her gun will not balisticaly match the fatal bullet. AND 5. Caruso was shot in the back! The police will then demand to know WTF really shot him! And WTF she didn't tell them it was Bauer! Williams would go to jail for participating in a murder. As I said, the whole film from beginning to end is dumb.

It is a filthy film and the soundtrack is even worse.

When we look back at the history of made-for-video films they'll say that this one started the erotic thriller fad. Ah, but if only they had natural redhead beauties like Barbara Williams instead of the man-made women we see today. To see David Caruso playing the same condescending stiff he has played his whole career, to see that Steven Bauer kept his career going despite this yawn of a film, to hear Williams say "I feel so violated!" or Norm Peterson say "It must be a holiday for the school suppliers." or to hear John Getz say "Dr. Seuss to the rescue." There is so much bad in this film I can see why Douglas Day Stewart is forgotten today. Finally, I must say I didn't think Unrated films existed in 1984; this one happens to have extra footage although it's very tame. I watched this one so you wouldn't have to. Stay away.

I don't care if the screenplay is superficial or not ... maybe it is, but anyway ... when I immerse into this movie, I see almost my own life in it. Myself, some years ago, a bored housewife. Driving a Beetle. Telling not her diary but Facebook her whole life. Fell in love with some stranger through the internet, who knew all my secrets. The coincidences are striking. The breathtaking scenery of San Francisco and the soundtrack, which brings tears of joy in every Eighties-fan eyes, this movie is one of my absolute favorites. I'm addicted to this movie like to Rum Raisin. Have to see it on and on, every year. The only thing I do not understand and where I disagree with Mickey, is her choice of letting Scott go in the last scene. I would immediately jump on his motorbike - and in my real life I did! For five years I have been married to my Thief of Hearts and this movie is OUR film.

Though I do like this film, I found the concept immensely disturbing. Being a private person (you don't see my NAME on this, do you?), I found the idea that anyone could so completely invade a life absolutely terrifying. In spite of a few holes, the film works, chiefly because the characters enmesh the audience in their feelings. Steven Bauer is incredibly underrated as an actor and, while I have seen stronger performances from him, he's very good as the enamoured thief in search of a way out and Barbara Williams is credible as the neglected wife enchanted by the mystery man. Let's not leave out John Getz, another unexplainably underrated performer, as the self-absorbed husband. If you can ignore the flashy 80s style, the film is a fascinating study of obsession. Warning: it definitely deserves its R rating for unnecessary full nudity.

I was 13, or maybe 14 when I saw this movie... I was just watching movies my aunt had rented, and.... I gotta tell you.... this was the very first time I EVER had a sexual feeling in my life... at 13, mind you... I thought of going on MTV wearing a shirt that said "I Love Steven Bauer"..... (that was going to be a true mission of mine...really!)... I was determined to meet that guy... but I grew up, I'm now 35, single... (by choice, mind you...)... but I still think back to when that movie made me wonder what was going on with my body, and why it felt so good to rock back and forth a bit.(lovely)... I've kept a diary since I was in 3rd grade.... and still have them all.

...you just might "get" this film. In my heart, Douglas Day Stewart is a genius. That he is capable of such sensitivity, instinct and passion just gives me chills, as said emotions are so pitifully rare in mainstream filmmaking (let's not even discuss the hollow garbage that has risen to the surface in the past decade). The infatuation, the sickness that plagues Scott Muller in this film is so clearly, so intensely conveyed through Stewart's meticulous direction (it's his frickin' script) and the thoroughly phenomenal performance of Steven Bauer. I'll grant certain persons there being plenty of "flash," (otherwise known as brilliant photography and an energetic soundtrack) but...welcome to the 80's. That "flash" epitomized the decade and I've seen no slicker example, no smarter implementation of it than in this little picture here. The film is tremendous, ridiculously moving, simply magical. Invariably, the final scene leaves me in tears--of frustration for the characters, of enchantment for the beauty that is Thief of Hearts. I love that it is Bruckheimer/Simpson's lowest grossing film. It only stands to prove what idiots make up the bulk of American audiences.