''Thief of Hearts'' is a 1984 American

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

produced by Don Simpson and

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leonard Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, comedy, fantasy, horror and science fiction. After working in advertising out of college, Bruck ...

. It was written and directed by

Douglas Day Stewart Douglas Day Stewart (born January 1, 1940) is an American screenwriter and film director. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for the 1982 film ''An Officer and a Gentleman''. Early life Stewart was born on Jan ...

. It stars

Steven Bauer Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson; December 2, 1956) is a Cuban American actor. Bauer began his career on PBS, portraying Joe Peña, the son of Cuban immigrants on '' ¿Qué Pasa, USA?'' (1977–1979). He played Manolo "Ma ...

, Barbara Williams,

John Getz John William Getz (born October 15, 1946) is an American character actor. After starting his acting career on stage, he has appeared in numerous television series and films, most notably ''Blood Simple'', '' The Fly'', and ''The Social Network' ...

and

David Caruso David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956) is a retired American actor and producer, best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on the ABC crime drama ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–1994) and Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the CBS series '' CSI: ...

Plot

burglar Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving trespass to land, the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal ...

, Scott Muller (

), teams up with his friend Buddy Calamara (

), a

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, ''valet de chambre'' was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "va ...

at a high-society restaurant. Buddy keeps an eye on Mickey and Ray Davis, a rich married couple, while Scott robs their home. One night, one of the items Scott takes is a diary belonging to the wife ( Barbara Williams). Scott reads the diary and discovers that the wife, Mickey, an interior designer, yearns for a more interesting life. He quickly becomes infatuated with her. The diary is full of her fantasies and dreams, so Scott plans to turn these into reality. Mickey's husband, children's book author Ray Davis (

), gets too involved in his work and neglects his wife's needs. Scott uses his inside knowledge to seduce her, using the pretext of needing someone to re-design his apartment, and posing as a school supply company CEO. The forbidden romance soon blossoms into a passionate sexual relationship, as Ray becomes suspicious. During another robbery, Buddy kills a policeman who spotted them. Scott becomes more and more tense when Mickey starts asking questions about him and his past. Ray decides to follow Scott with his friend and publisher Marty Morrison (

George Wendt George Robert Wendt Jr. (October 17, 1948 – May 20, 2025) was an American actor. Wendt was best known for playing Norm Peterson on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' from 1982 to 1993, which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Em ...

). They snoop around the building used by the robbers and find out Scott is the thief who stole his belongings. Buddy sees Ray there. He tells Scott, who, visibly agitated, goes to see Mickey, asking her to leave the city with him, revealing he was the one who stole her diary. Her husband arrives and fights with Scott, and when Mickey comes to her husband's aid, Scott leaves. When the Davises go to a restaurant, Scott breaks into their home and reads Mickey's latest diary entry. Buddy intends to rob them again and Scott tries to stop him. They fight and one gets stabbed with Buddy's knife. The married couple come home to find the last standing intruder still in the house. Mickey gets out her pistol and aims at the masked man. A gunshot is heard and the man stumbles down. The police arrives and it is revealed that the man shot was Buddy. Mickey goes to the bedroom and finds out that Scott is there, alive but wounded. Rather than be arrested for having shot Buddy, he escapes from the police through the window as Mickey watches him running in the dark.

Cast

as Scott Muller * Barbara Williams as Mickey Davis *

as Ray Davis *

as Buddy Calamara * Alan North as Sweeney *

Christine Ebersole Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress, singer and comedian. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage (theatre), stage. She has received two Tony Awards, and a Drama Desk Award as well as a nomination for a ...

as Janie Pointer *

as Marty Morrison

Production

Douglas Day Stewart wrote and directed the film off the back of his successful scripts for '' The Blue Lagoon'' and especially ''

An Officer and a Gentleman ''An Officer and a Gentleman'' is a 1982 American romantic drama film directed by Taylor Hackford from a screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, and starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger, and Louis Gossett Jr. It tells the story of Zack Mayo (Gere ...

''. The latter was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer who produced ''Thief of Hearts''. Stewart called the film "an unusual romantic drama best described as an American ''

Last Tango in Paris ''Last Tango in Paris'' (; ) is a 1972 Erotic film, erotic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The film stars Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider (actor), Maria Schneider and Jean-Pierre Léaud, and portrays a rec ...

''... I never try to write to the market. I just write love-themed material. I think my last project shows there has been terrible starvation for love themed projects in the movies." Stewart said "The story started for me about 12 years ago, when I was robbed. You start to try to put faces to the people that came in and walked around and lifted your personal possessions. They might have touched the bed where you slept, or looked at that intimate photo in that drawer. That was the beginning of the story, but I didn't quite have a handle on it for many years until I added the element of the journals." Stewart says "read all those books about women's sexual fantasies. I talked to women about their fantasies. I read journal entries. It proved to me that women lived so much inside their fantasies that men didn't realize it." Stewart estimated he did 23 drafts. Filming started 13 February 1984 in San Francisco. It was made by the team of Simpson-Bruckheimer who were coming off a big success with '' Flashdance''.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has a score of 0% based on reviews from 6 critics. Vincent Canby of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

called it "a good, romantic suspense film that, at its best, has some of the steaminess of Lawrence Kasdan's ''

Body Heat Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...

,'' although a few important plot twists don't stand careful scrutiny." The film was the only flop from Simpson and Bruckheimer in their early days. Simpson later dismissed director Stewart in an interview as "a man with nice hair. He should probably stick to writing."

Home media

''Thief of Hearts'' was released on DVD on April 16, 2002. The DVD release is heavily edited, especially the gun range scene.

References

External links

* * {{Jerry Bruckheimer 1984 films American erotic drama films American erotic thriller films American psychological thriller films 1980s psychological thriller films Paramount Pictures films Jerry Bruckheimer Films films Films produced by Don Simpson Films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Films directed by Douglas Day Stewart Films with screenplays by Douglas Day Stewart Films scored by Harold Faltermeyer 1980s erotic drama films 1980s erotic thriller films 1984 drama films 1980s English-language films 1984 directorial debut films 1980s American films English-language erotic drama films English-language erotic thriller films