THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1981) *** ½

1981 was the unofficial start of the erotic thriller boom.  Movies like Body Heat and The Postman Always Rings Twice were throwbacks to the film noir thrillers of the ‘40s, only with steamy sex scenes the films of old could only hint at.  The genre would go on to be perfected over the years (READ:  The filmmakers added more sex), but the big sex scene in Postman, while not exactly explicit, certainly got people talking. 

Jack Nicholson plays a drifter named Frank who wanders into a cafe and is unable to play his tab.  The owner is an agreeable Greek immigrant (John Colicos) and offers him a job, complete with room and board.  Frank gets one look at the guy’s wife, Cora (Jessica Lange) and decides to stick around.  It doesn’t take long before they are bumping uglies and plotting to run away together.  Of course, it would be easier for everybody if her husband was out of the picture.  Permanently. 

This was Jack’s third collaboration with director Bob Rafelson.  (Or, fourth, if you count The Monkees movie, Head.)  One of the common themes of their work together is that their pictures tend to focus more on characters than plot.  Most film noir thrillers depend on a lot of twists and turns.  With Postman, the twists don’t come from the screenwriters pulling the rug out from under us, but from the way the schemes of desperate people don’t always go as planned. 

Jack is excellent here and he’s especially memorable when he furrows his brow.  It’s a poker face style of acting where you’re not sure if he’s plotting murder or just coming to terms with how his life has turned out.  Thanks to her performance in this and All That Jazz, people began taking Jessica Lange seriously as an actress after the snobby critics dismissed her debut in King Kong.  She has a lot of smoldering intensity and is Jack’s equal in every way.  The memorable supporting cast also includes bits by Christopher Lloyd, Angelica Huston, Don Calfa, and John P. Ryan. 

This was also the first screenplay by playwright David Mamet, who would go on to an impressive film career both behind and in front of the camera.  (He would later write Hoffa starring Nicholson.)  Does it maybe drag a bit in spots?  A little.  Could it have been trimmed down a bit?  Sure.  However, when the two leads are cooking, Postman delivers.