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Something Wild (1986)
Despite some fuzzy plotting and characterizations, 1986's Something Wild is a slick and sexy road trip comedy that has developed a cult following over the years, primarily due to the terrific performances by the three stars pretty early in their careers.
Lulu (Melanie Griffith) is a free spirited grifter who meets a tight-assed tax attorney named Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels) at a restaurant and offers him a ride back to his office. Instead of taking him to his office, she kidnaps the guy and takes him on a memorable road trip down south, teaching him how to loosen up which he does. Lulu, whose real name is Audrey by the way, takes Charlie to meet her mother and to her high school reunion, introducing him as her husband. This is where their adventure takes a dark turn when they meet up with Audrey's ex-husband, Ray (the late Ray Liotta), a psychotic ex-con.
Screenwriter E Max Frye, who received an Oscar nomination for his writing Foxcatcher a couple of decades later, cut his teeth here with a screenplay that sets up the classic It Happened One Night kind of comic romance between two people never meant to be together, but muddies the waters when he attempts to modernize the story with the entrance of the dangerous ex-husband. For some reason the free spirited and confident Lulu we meet at the beginning of the film turns into a spineless damsel in distress when her ex enters the picture. We are also confused because she is under the impression that Charlie is married when they meet, but then gets upset with him when she learns he isn't. It was all right to kidnap a guy who is married with children, but a single guy is another matter.
Charlie's brain seems to be removed for thee film. A wizard in business, but socially inept, believing every word that comes out of Audrey/Lulu's mouth, but unable or unwilling to extricate himself from this situation and it is often hard to tell which it is. The oddest thing about the relation between Charlie and Lulu is that she seems to be developing genuine feelings for the man, but he only seems to be thinking from below the waist, that is until Ray enters the picture. Charlie's transformation into Lulu's protector is fun to watch, even though the final showdown with Ray leads to an extra ending that wasn't really necessary.
The late Jonathan Demme, who would win an Oscar five years later for directing The Silence of the Lambs displays a real skill with the camera here, making this intimate story look like a movie, etched on an inviting cross country campus. Jeff Daniels is a solid leading man in his sixth feature film appearance and Melanie Griffith tries hard to work with a character that's all over the place, but it's Ray Liotta who walks off with this movie with a sexy and dangerous performance that leaps off the screen. I'm sure this performance had a lot do with Martin Scorsese casting him as Henry Hill in Goodfellas because it's a real eye-opener. The screenplay definitely has its problems, but Daniels and Liotta make this worth a look.
Despite some fuzzy plotting and characterizations, 1986's Something Wild is a slick and sexy road trip comedy that has developed a cult following over the years, primarily due to the terrific performances by the three stars pretty early in their careers.
Lulu (Melanie Griffith) is a free spirited grifter who meets a tight-assed tax attorney named Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels) at a restaurant and offers him a ride back to his office. Instead of taking him to his office, she kidnaps the guy and takes him on a memorable road trip down south, teaching him how to loosen up which he does. Lulu, whose real name is Audrey by the way, takes Charlie to meet her mother and to her high school reunion, introducing him as her husband. This is where their adventure takes a dark turn when they meet up with Audrey's ex-husband, Ray (the late Ray Liotta), a psychotic ex-con.
Screenwriter E Max Frye, who received an Oscar nomination for his writing Foxcatcher a couple of decades later, cut his teeth here with a screenplay that sets up the classic It Happened One Night kind of comic romance between two people never meant to be together, but muddies the waters when he attempts to modernize the story with the entrance of the dangerous ex-husband. For some reason the free spirited and confident Lulu we meet at the beginning of the film turns into a spineless damsel in distress when her ex enters the picture. We are also confused because she is under the impression that Charlie is married when they meet, but then gets upset with him when she learns he isn't. It was all right to kidnap a guy who is married with children, but a single guy is another matter.
Charlie's brain seems to be removed for thee film. A wizard in business, but socially inept, believing every word that comes out of Audrey/Lulu's mouth, but unable or unwilling to extricate himself from this situation and it is often hard to tell which it is. The oddest thing about the relation between Charlie and Lulu is that she seems to be developing genuine feelings for the man, but he only seems to be thinking from below the waist, that is until Ray enters the picture. Charlie's transformation into Lulu's protector is fun to watch, even though the final showdown with Ray leads to an extra ending that wasn't really necessary.
The late Jonathan Demme, who would win an Oscar five years later for directing The Silence of the Lambs displays a real skill with the camera here, making this intimate story look like a movie, etched on an inviting cross country campus. Jeff Daniels is a solid leading man in his sixth feature film appearance and Melanie Griffith tries hard to work with a character that's all over the place, but it's Ray Liotta who walks off with this movie with a sexy and dangerous performance that leaps off the screen. I'm sure this performance had a lot do with Martin Scorsese casting him as Henry Hill in Goodfellas because it's a real eye-opener. The screenplay definitely has its problems, but Daniels and Liotta make this worth a look.