Something Wild (1986) User Reviews

Something special

[KMR · 8/10 · 21 November 1999]

Jeff Daniels has never been better, Ray Liotta is wonderfully sexy and menacing, and even Melanie Griffith (whom I normally dislike) works well here. One of my favorite Demme movies, this one features all kinds of interesting little character bits (a Demme trademark), and a cool little detail that I only noticed upon my 3rd or 4th viewing: at the high school reunion, after Charlie and Audrey finish their sweet little dance, the lights flicker and black out for a moment, signaling the end of the first, lighter half of the film. Ray Liotta appears on screen seconds later, bringing with him the all the violence and danger of the second half.

A very simple but elegant touch. Check this one out, it's a really good movie. Great soundtrack too! 8/10.

Truly a Wild Entertainment

[jzappa · 8/10 · 12 September 2009]

Not even remotely corny like one would expect of a 1980s romantic comedy, this fierce, libidinous entertainment stars Jeff Daniels as Charlie, an externally button-down banker whose mojo is readily fluttered by audacity in women, and Melanie Griffith as Lulu, an alcoholic sex machine with an amply fertile mind. Daniels plays some of the same notes here that he used in Terms of Endearment, where he was the firm, competent, straitlaced husband and father who liked to have relations with perky coeds. He looks like he was born to wear a suit and a tie, but he has that insubordinate glint in the right light. Griffith's performance is founded not so much on sexual excitement as on nerve: She is able to persuade us, and Daniels, that she is likely to do almost anything, particularly if she thinks it might shock him.

Even while they're standing on the sidewalk in front of that restaurant and she's making like she's charging him with theft, there's a spark between them. The casting is critical in a movie like this. There has to be some kind of brutish cohesion between the man and the woman or it doesn't make any difference how sharp the dialogue is. Once they've made their connection, Daniels freely goes along for the ride. After awhile she even takes his handcuffs off, although he sort of liked the idea of having lunch in a restaurant with the cuffs dangling from one of his wrists.

They drive down the East Coast from New York to Tallahasee, while she steals money from cash registers and he capsizes into the conscious daydream of the sensually exhausted. At Griffith's high school reunion, Daniels runs into the last person he wants to see, the accountant from his office. And Griffith runs into the last person she wants to see, her husband, Ray Liotta. I will stop here. The uncertainty of the tension must not be ruined.

If Demme and screenwriter E. Max Frye had developed this movie as a madcap comedy, it most likely wouldn't have worked as well. Their feat is to think their characters through before the very first scene. They know all about Charlie and Lulu, and so what happens after the confrontation outside that restaurant is virtually inescapable, cnsidering who they are and how they look at each other. This is one of those few movies where the story acts shocked by what the characters do, and not the other way around.

One mood change has been overlooked...

[NNancy1964 · 7/10 · 20 May 2003]

I truly love this movie when I need to totally vanish from real life for a couple of hours. I wholeheartedly agree with the comments about how it goes from fun to serious almost seamlessly, but one part has been overlooked. The visit to Audrey's mother, Peaches, is almost abrupt in its quietude ("Don't call me Lulu, call me Audrey" changes everything), and it makes you wonder how Audrey became as free-spirited as she is. Peaches is no dummy, either... she reads right through Charlie with an air of a woman resigned to never really knowing her daughter. This little visit is the bridge between the fun and scary, the surreal and frighteningly real, and asks more questions than it answers... which works perfectly.

Unique, enjoyable black comedy from Johnathan Demme

[teh_mode · 7/10 · 8 May 2006]

It's easy to take actors like Ray Liotta and Jeff Daniels for granted with the benefit of hindsight. Both of them have had ups and (horrible) downs, crossing genres seamlessly or inexplicably. It can also be argued that neither one of them has been more gratifying, more liberated, more, well, wild than in their breakthrough roles in Johnathan Demme's road movie. With the help of Melanie Griffith's femme fatale they make a very interesting movie about finding your wild side, but also finding out about the nasty underbelly lurking beneath society's pickett fences.

After being accused of ripping off a diner, a yuppie accountant named Charles sets off on a wild road trip with the free-spirited Lulu. Along the way she manages to bring out something special in Charlie, accusing him of being a closet rebel. They decide to get themselves in various troublesome situations, like running out on roof-splittingly expensive restaurants. They soon run into trouble, however, when a former love of Lulu's (or Audrey's), Ray, turns up at her high school reunion, after what appears to be done time in a jail.

Demme's film switches from screwball situation comedy to black farce and then to an uncomfortable menace. At times we're not really sure what this woman wants with Charles, whether she is after money, scheming, or indeed really has fallen for our floppy-haired protagonist. Daniels injects his hapless hero with all the dopey charm and middle-class wit one could ever hope to see in an 80s suit-wearing yuppie. He wants to eschew his suburban divorce style for a rebellious wild-at-heart rebel, and insists upon doing it with the impulsive, slightly reckless, but utterly alluring Lulu. The problem is, when he discovers his wild side, he has to deal with the ensuing problems: He's just been made Vice-President at his firm - What would his work mates think? How does he deal with the psychotic ex-con boyfriend? Does he really know what this woman wants? He appears, for most of the movie, to be a sap, who could fall for more than he could handle. But coincidentally, he's a pretty good liar, so maybe he's no better than the rest of them.

But even if the underlying philosophy doesn't hit you, then the comedic set-pieces definitely should. One particular scene involving handcuffs, suspenders, a dinky motel and a a phone call to his work office particularly sticks in the mind. It's not often you get movies like this. Movies that share a good balance between intelligence and farce. How can you go wrong?

She drives me crazy, ooh ooh.......

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 29 May 2010]

Stiff and strait banker Charles Driggs (Jeff Daniels) meets sexy wild gal Audrey Hankel (Melanie Griffith) and quickly falls under her spell. Initially, and weakly protesting, he soon finds that her lifestyle adds the spark to his otherwise dull existence. However, things get troublesome when her violent ex-convict husband (Ray Liotta) shows up and announces that if he can't have her? Nobody can!

Something of a cult hit these days, Something Wild (directed by Jonathan "Silence Of The Lambs" Demme) has that nice trick of being able to pull us in early for the comedy, and then take us down a darker, but still comical, road. Daniels is always an affable and easy to watch actor, and nothing changes here, but it's Griffith and an early Liotta turn that steals the show. Griffith is a ball of sexuality, and she looks fabulous into the bargain. Her Audrey (AKA Lulu) has a few layers that need to be peeled by Griffith and she does it with style. Liotta serves notice of what was to come four years down the line when a certain Mr Scorsese came calling. Menacing yet fun into the bargain, it's very much the perfect Liotta role. Demme paints an interesting picture as he blends yuppiedom with rebellious excess, the result being a quirky little number that, save for an inevitability that comes with the finale, is a rewarding, time fulfilling experience. Margaret Colin, Tracey Walter, Su Tissue and Charles Napier join the principals in the cast, while the zippy 80s soundtrack contains cuts from some of the decades luminaries like New Order, Fine Young Cannibals & UB40. 7/10

Melanie Griffith's memorable character

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 7 August 2016]

Charles Driggs (Jeff Daniels) is outwardly a stuffy businessman in NYC. He tries to dine and dash, but gets called out by Lulu/Audrey Hankel (Melanie Griffith). She sees him as a secret rebel. She offers to drive him back to his office but instead takes him on a wild trip. She's stealing and sleeping with the married Charles in a motel. She brings him back to visit her mother and go to the class reunion as Charles' wife. Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta) and his girlfriend Irene (Margaret Colin) show up at the reunion and take Charles and Audrey for a drive. Ray turns out to be Audrey's ex-con husband and he holds up a convenience store.

Melanie Griffith delivers one of the most memorable character in cinema. She's a Manic Pixie Dream Girl before that term existed. She's also more three dimensional than that. Jeff Daniels is almost as good and shows his versatility. My main problem with him is the first half where he is supposedly a married man cheating on his loving wife. Instead of a compelling reveal later on, I would have started with Charles as a lonely non-married guy. It kept me from liking Charles and thinking that he's a lousy cheater. Ray Liotta is always great as a crazed maniac. It's a wild times.

A real gem from the 1980s.

[TOMASBBloodhound · 9/10 · 13 July 2008]

Sometimes you have to search high and low, but you really can find some interesting films made in the late 1980s. Though Jonathan Demme's film is not perfect, it still brilliantly outshines most of the crud made back then. Something Wild is the study of two souls who seem to come from different worlds going on a crazy road trip full of sex, violence, and even a high school reunion.

It all begins inside a tiny diner in New York City when openly free-spirited Audrey (Melanie Griffith) notices yuppie Charlie (Jeff Daniels) sneak out on paying his bill. She confronts him outside, and the two of them end up jumping in her car and taking off on a sunny Friday afternoon. At first it would seem that this trip across the state line will merely end in a sexual tryst in a cheap motel, but little does Charlie know, Audrey has all sorts of plans for him that weekend. After some serious hanky-panky, Audrey takes Charlie back to her home town, introduces him to her mother as her husband, and then takes him to her high school reunion. In a development a little bit contrived for this critic's liking, one of Charlie's co-workers also happens to be attending this reunion. This could potentially destroy the facade of the family man on a wild weekend that Charlie is trying to perpetrate. (at this point we learn his wife left him quite a while ago) Further complicating matters is the arrival of Audrey's psychotic ex-husband, played with fearsome intensity by Ray Liotta. From that point on, this film which has largely gone for laughs, becomes rather intense and often violent.

This film scores major points by absolutely keeping the audience guessing. At least until the third act when the film can likely conclude in no other way than it does. The film avoids making Charlie out to be a totally predictable sap who is just along for a wild ride with a crazy woman. Charlie has his own secrets, and a whole hidden side of his own that comes out when it has to. Demme places some marginally famous people in some truly odd cameos, and spends a little bit more time with peripheral characters than some people would. It gives the film a very "human" kind of feeling as we get to know at least a little something about even someone working as a waitress or at a motel. The film maybe meanders a bit here and there, but that is understandable since so much of it plays out like a road trip. The actors are exceptional, and the film is full of color and energy. Highly recommended. 9 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

Two Movies In One

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 27 February 2006]

It's almost two films in one: a lighthearted sex fantasy ride for the first 50 minutes and then (when Ray Liotta appears) a suspenseful, violent thriller.

It's a strange movie, but certainly entertaining. However, I found that the more I watched this film, the more I didn't like it. It kept dropping ratings, from a 9 to a 7.6 to a 6. I guess I should have quit while I was ahead.

What annoyed me was Jeff Daniels and his role. What a irritating idiot! The only redeeming quality for watching him is to show how stupid we men act and have our lives ruined by the lure of sex from some young, pretty woman. Daniels constantly wears this stupid jerky smile on his face for that first hour unless Liotta wipes it off him.

Few people in the '80s and '90s could play psychotics was well as Liotta and few people in that same period could look and sound like such a sexy bimbo as Melanie Griffith, so both of them are effective in their roles. The only guy that is totally out of his element is Daniels, playing this huge boob (speaking of Griffith) who winds up reaping what he sows.

Yes, it still was an Interesting movie, but two viewings are enough.

**** (Out of four)

[halnexus · 10/10 · 23 August 1999]

Jeff Daniels has been the type of actor whose films are always shown on "The Late Late Movie". His career has been built as playing the normal guy in increasingly odder movies. He's taken on the B-movie genre ("Arachnophobia"), trippy cult sci-fi ("Disaster in Time"), nostalgia-fueled Woody Allen comedies ("The Purple Rose of Cairo"), and even the occasional abominable romance ("Love Stinks", "The Butcher's Wife"). And then there's "Something Wild", a film which defies any possible classification. It's a love story, a road movie, a thriller, a comedy of errors, an 80's movie and most of all, it's a Jonathan Demme movie.

Made in 1986, the film has a logical kind of pre-thinking which is both subtle and amazing. Daniels plays Charlie Driggs, an uptight New York City businessman whose life goes into overdrive when he meets "Lulu" (Melanie Griffith), a wacky free spirit with a pair of handcuffs, a bottle of Scotch and a sexuality which seems to be inspired not by the Madonna-esque charades of the time but on past screen legends as Louise Brooks and Mae West. After meeting in a corner restaurant where it seems all of the customers have their own interesting stories to tell, Demme and screenwriter E. Max Frye focus on these two people and the various destinies their meeting awaits, the least of which involves Lulu's ex-husband (Ray Liotta), fresh out of prison and demanding an explanation for Lulu's fading love for him.

Of course I'm making this film seem like another one of those standard Hollywood claptraps. Yet it's not. Together with regular cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, Demme plunges us into a world which seems at first like a homespun portrait of Americana, complete with minor characters who seem to have life beyond the screen (the Motel Philosopher; John Waters' crooked car salesman; Charlie's protege and his very pregnant, very introverted wife; Lulu's unexpectedly wise mother). Later, however, the film uses its keen sense of characterization to subtly show the effects of the various kindnesses of strangers (the gas-station attendant, the little girl outside the church, a naive teen named Tracy). All of this is done in a style that is both unique and mesmerizing, as Demme keeps shifting the gears of his story so the audience doesn't know what will happen next.

And then there's the Liotta character. This is one of the great supporting performances of contemporary cinema, as Liotta's presence lets another dimension of atmosphere pervade its way through this already quirky film,lifting it beyond the ranks into greatness. Displaying a level of intelligence which is both dangerous and striking, Liotta conjures up a performance which he would later reprise in Jonathan Kaplan's inferior "Unlawful Entry", a film which, unfortunately, did considerably better at the box office than this one. Nevertheless, Liotta proves exactly what Scorsese saw in him when he was casting "Goodfellas": his smarmy underhandedness and sneaky intrusions would prove similar to those he would display playing Henry Hill in that Mafia masterpiece.

Another one of "Something Wild"'s many strengths is its soundtrack. The film contains many of what I have described as "30-second rock interludes", but in this case, it's done with so much style and cinematic know-how that it does not take away from the story. Instead, Demme uses the stereotype that many of his MTV-obsessed colleagues employed and turns it on its head. Instead of using music for music's sake, Demme uses an eclectic mix of reggae (Sister Carol, Jimmy Cliff, UB40), oldies (many performed by the Feelies during the reunion sequence), and Laurie Anderson and John Cale's solo guitar riff and blends the sound to the images so it looks as if the film is being told by a pseudo-Greek chorus of African-American subculture which stands apart from this story of libidos and materialism run awry.

This film is shown on Comedy Central many, many times. However, it has been severely edited due to commercial restraints and is also shown during the wrong time of day. This is a midnight movie, a film which is meant to be discovered while flipping the dials on your television set during restless bouts of insomnia. Like "Blade Runner" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", this cult movie feeds upon a nocturnal atmosphere and is as a result all the more effective. I haven't even mentioned Griffith's performance, which is her best, even better than "Working Girl". Her squeaky voice and demeanor hints at oceans of emotion behind this problematic woman, and you find yourself caring for this mismatched couple even as Liotta terrorizes the screen. "Friends?" Liotta asks Daniels, manipulating his thoughts so easily that Daniels hardly knows what to say or what to do. The audience sits spellbound, experiencing the same degree of uncertainty over this eccentrically exquisite movie.

Underrated, quirky, rich, disturbing comedy/drama

[cathyyoung1 · 10 May 2000]

<SOME SPOILERS>

"Something Wild" is, in my view, Jonathan Demme's best film. It got mixed reviews, mostly due to the fact that critics didn't appreciate its mix of comedy and drama and the abrupt mood shift, midway through the film, from a light tone to a very dark one. In fact, this shift was entirely intentional and essential to the conception of the film.

In the first half, Lulu/Audrey (Melanie Griffith in what may be her best performance ever) introduces nice-guy yuppie Charlie (Jeff Daniels, also in one of his best roles) to the thrills of forbidden adventure, from hilariously kinky sex in a roadside motel to running out on a restaurant tab and stealing from a cash register. This life seems exciting and thrilling. In the second half, with the appearance of her ex-husband Ray, who has just gotten out of jail (Ray Liotta, much better here than in the psycho-cop role in the mediocre "Unlawful Entry"), we see the dark and violent side of life on the wrong side of social conventions.

One interesting thing about this movie, easy to miss when you see it for the first time, is that many of the comical episodes from the first half are paralleled by "mirror-image" episodes in the second half, only in a dark and dramatic key. For instance, the "abduction" of Charlie by Lulu/Audrey has a parallel in the very real kidnapping of Audrey by Ray in the second half. Lulu's theft of cash from the liquor store, treated as an amusing prank, is parallelled by Ray's violent robbery of a store in the second half. There are other examples of this.

All in all, a brilliant work. Highly recommended.

Not even Melanie Griffith can destroy this one!!!

[Idocamstuf · 7/10 · 17 June 2003]

This was a pretty good movie, fun plot, Jeff Daniels, Ray Liotta, and a very cool 80's soundtrack. The only thing that somewhat takes away from this film is Melanie Griffith's typical lousy performance, but its still a good film. Jeff Daniels is great as usual as the nervous and straight laced businessman who falls prey to a woman's vicous game. This was the movie that got Liotta started, and I can see why, he gave a great performance as Griffith's maniac husband. This movie is nothing too special, but it'll give you a fun rental. 7 out of 10.

an above-average rom-com script crossbred with juicy pulp fiction, great stuff

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 16 April 2008]

Why can't more romantic comedies be like this? This question came to me while watching Something Wild, a little sleeper from the mid 80s from Jonathan Demme about a seemingly typical 80s NY businessman, Charlie (Jeff Daniels) who gets whisked away by a 'free-spirit' "Lulu" (Melanie Griffith). Well, probably because most people who watch the very typical romantic comedies probably don't watch it for the same reasons that those who love Something Wild do. There's maybe something to keep going through the dirge of crap that are among the films of decades and decades of romantic comedies, but it's finding one of the nuggets that counts (Love Actually, from 2003, is another one for example). And, perhaps, there might be a darker sensibility, or more thought put into it, in enjoying Something Wild.

It's a lot like Id-gone-Wild, in a sense. In the world of Something Wild, we're brought along with characters on a situation that would seem surreal on a Bunuel level (i.e. bourgeois brought along into the realm of sin and desire by some free-will temptress of the 'lower depths'), but there's a reality to it, a kind of down-to-earth level about the characters- and, more importantly for this, the actors playing them- and it elevates it past being either too strange or just too quirky. It's just about right, which is tough to dol you feel like cringing as Lulu calls up Charlie's boss while teasing him incredibly in the midst of kinky sex, but it's also so funny in how it all comes together that you just don't care, at least, enough, that it's anarchic.

So while it's enjoyable, at least on first sight, as a sort of freewheeling existentialist romp, like a French sex comedy clipped over on the 80s 'greed-is-good' motto, it has dark undertones that soon get darker and darker, thanks to Ray Liotta's Ray, who is Lulu/Audrey's real husband. At this point we feel like we're suddenly plopped into a pulp fiction piece, with the ex-con bad-ass going to town against the would-be rebel and his girl gone awry. But at the same time, for what Demme and his wonderful screenwriter have, it all works. What helps exponentially (if that's the word) is that Demme doesn't stray either into anything not honest within the boundaries of this situation. It might seem like a risk people wouldn't take in real life, or that the violence is pumped up to, again, pulp fiction territory, but in the logic of the piece- of the tricky deceit and the push-and-pull of the triangle of Charlie/Audrey/Ray- it's just awesomely achieved.

Again, the performances are a big asset to the film's suceess. Daniels matches very well that line between playing it innocent and the straight-shooter, the guy we're supposed to identify with as stuck middle-class citizens with families and green lawns, and as a rebel who just has to let some free will into his system now and again. Griffith is in one of her very best, not acting too precocious or annoying, and conveying in the little bits of 'regular' Audrey (i.e. the scene at her mother's) that there's more than meets the eye. And Liotta is so great that it's probably no wonder that he (maybe unfortunately) got typecast as a psycho. There's actually complexity that Liotta gets to, and in a way doesn't make Ray totally unlikeable; he is the villain, of course, but there's a charm that is like the ID unraveled completely as a guy who shoots guns, robs stores, and hits on girls whenever he can. All three make up such a terrific combo here.

It's crazy, it's awkward, it's a rip-roaring time, and it's even got heart too. For those who are tired of spoon-fed tripe by the studios, it's an excellent escape into one of the most unconventional (but most pleasantly genre-tastic) of the past 25 years

"You Better Ask Yourself If You Really Want Her."

[mattstone137 · 7/10 · 16 March 2022]

Something Wild is the type of film many viewers today long for, a mid-budget comedy with reasonable stakes and a pleasing, laidback demeanor. There's nothing smug or selfish about the film; it's genuinely trying to please, and does so effortlessly, with broad appeal. It's got a great cast, including young up-and-comers Jeff Daniels, Ray Liotta, and Melanie Griffith, a greater director in Johnathon Demme, who would find his ultimate success in directing Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, and a great script, which bends, twists, and contorts to give a new perspective every half hour or so. What an unexpected, merry pleasure.

The film follows Charles Driggs, played by Daniels, an uptight yuppie who meets Audrey Hankel, played by Griffith. Audrey is a wild child, and soon convinces stiff Charles to ditch work and follow her to the country to meet her mother and attend her class reunion. The arrival of Ray Sinclair, played by Liotta, complicates matters further. It's a comfortable, nestled film, mostly taking place over the course of only a day.

The film is smartly written and directed, but it lives and dies with its three principle leads, who each turn in great work. All three build their characters from the ground up, exaggerating their central traits just enough to deliver the essential character information throughout. The script has little time for backstory or introductions, relying on the mannerisms and body cues of the cast to fill the audience in. It's a bold approach, but it works. The film also steadily shifts in tone and tension, demanding subtle tweaks to each performance as the film plays. Again, the cast delivers flawlessly.

Speaking of the script, it's a dandy. The premise is thin on its surface (fun-loving girl meets yuppie, yuppie loosens up) and the potential for excess cliché or exposition is high. Something Wild sidesteps these pratfalls with ease, setting its focus tightly on its characters and exposing their psyches early and often. One of the most peculiar but exciting elements is the shift in tone throughout. It's steady and assured, motivated and appropriately weighted.

Motivations change organically too; characters grow plausibly, in the course of only a day, because the film works holistically. Character growth feeds into theme, theme feeds into style, style feeds into substance. Something Wild is intrinsically opposed to the banality of corporate life, 80s corporate life specifically, and this resistance to banality motivates the action and characters. It's understood without explicit statement - everyone needs something wild in their life eventually. Viewers will be hard pressed to disagree.

Something Wild is a cult classic with greatness all around and throughout. It's an easy-going film that ratches up the tension slowly and thrives within its own details. All three central characters would go on to fantastic careers, as would its director, and it's easy to see why. They're likeable and confident, charismatic and convincing. The film itself is a neat little encapsulation of the 80s trying to escape itself, sick of its own cowardice and corporate kowtowing. It's also a refreshing, skewed take on the machismo of the era, with an unexpected but earned payoff.

I just could not get on this movie's wavelength.

[matthewssilverhammer · 5/10 · 20 June 2022]

Maybe it's because I thought it was going to be a light-hearted rom-com, which it most certainly is not. On one hand, it's a well-acted, well-directed road trip romp. On the other, it's an obnoxiously off-kilter yuppie daydream that only barely makes character sense. I will accept some of the blame based on my misplaced expectations...but only some.

First a comedy - then suddenly a thriller.

[fedor8 · 15 January 2007]

Something not-so-great. "Silence of the Lambs" remains Demme's only good film, and I'm of course including all the overrated, left-wing exercises in big-screen indulgence some of which I haven't seen - and never will.

This is a light comedy that takes a thriller turn somewhere half-way. The first half is a little hard to sit through; it's neither funny nor particularly interesting. Daniels plays an over-the-top dumb-as-dirt naive moron who is so gullible and trusting that it defies belief. His animated acting is often annoying, and barely funny. He actually lies to Griffith at the outset and tells her that he is married, with children, when in fact he is divorced! In all the history of mankind and movies any man who is married and meets a woman he likes will lie - if he lies - and say that he ISN'T married. (Later on, the not-at-all credible or believable rationale behind this was revealed: he wanted to "protect (himself)". What a load of crap...) The fact that his character makes all the wrong decisions and does all the dumb things in the movie made me actually look forward to Liotta pounding on him when he caught up with him in the former's apartment.

What then happens in Daniels's apartment is the classic end-of-movie fight-to-the-death which the good guy - albeit the very dumb good guy - predictably wins. Still, at least the last half-hour has some action, something going on, and Daniels isn't given any more the opportunity to be animated. The film lacks credible characters (whether main or marginal), and the feel of it is too 80s which means the movie has a rather bland look; visually ugly. Sayles yet again makes a cameo as a policeman. The film is also perhaps a bit too heavy on the coincidences side. Griffith once again plays a soft-talking dumb-sounding bimbo, but, as usual, she is convincing because she IS a soft-talking dumb-sounding bimbo. This was an earlier film, before her lip-enlargement and breast-enlargement surgery; compare the natural breasts she exposes in this film to the ready-to-explode balloons she briefly flashes years later in "Nobody's Fool".

If you're interested in reading my "biographies" of Griffith and other Hollywood intellectuals, contact me by e-mail.

Eat the Peach.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 20 January 2011]

Jeff Daniels is a nice thirtyish young man stuck in a job in finance in New York. He has responsibilities, ambition, but he's bored with office intrigues and his life in general. On an impulse, having lunch alone, he skips out on the check, just to see what it feels like. Outside, a strangely dressed, garishly made-up Melanie Griffith, who calls herself Lulu, catches up with him, threatens to expose his crime, and more or less kidnaps him.

They drive through New Jersey to Pennsylvania, with Lulu flirting, lying, and thieving at every step. Her behavior is confident and outrageous. She handcuffs him to the bed and forces him to lie to his boss over the phone while she ministers to him. She asks him into the bathroom while she's peeing. Daniels begins to enjoy his release a little and they speed along and booze it up on the pastoral highways. When they reach her home town, she introduces him to her mother as her husband. Her mother, played with a great deal of rural charm by Dana Preu, sees through the ruse immediately and flows along with Lulu's fantasy. She also plays a clumsy but sweet minuet by Bach on the living room harpsichord.

It gets worse at Lulu's high school reunion. By this time Lulu has changed her grooming and looks like a square young lady, and Daniels is now shed his Wall Street gear and is decked out in a loud suit and canary yellow tie. There, Daniels runs into someone who works down the hall from him at the office. Gulping with fear, stuttering, Daniels begins to introduce Lulu with some semblance of respectability, but Lulu interrupts -- "I'm his mistress." The co-worker is properly awed because Lulu is nobody's idea of a dog. Lulu goes on, "We're going to get married because of the baby." The co-worker: "You're going to have his child?" Lulu chuckles: "I THINK it's his." She delivers all her lines in a smoothly casual fashion.

It's all been fun and games so far, with Daniels being Apollonian and Lulu being Dionysian, as Nietzsche might have described them. The moderate, rational, formal Daniels being corrupted -- or liberated -- by the ecstatic, drunken, spirited Lulu. By the time of the high school prom, though, they have become something of a blend. So it turns out to be what we always suspected. Daniels was a latent Dionysian -- but better latent than never. (Sorry.) Things turn dark when they run into Lulu's old boyfriend, Ray Liotta, at his most seductively evil.

The comedy never really stops as Liotta takes them on a crime spree but we're now in serious territory because Liotta is like a zit about to pop with rage. He punctures things with his sharp, metal-tipped boots.

It's worth seeing, if only because it's not simply stupid when it's measured against most of the garbage filling today's movie screens. There's a real sense of spiritedness as Daniels and Lulu zip along in their beat-up convertible, guzzling recklessly out of the bottle, and playing reggae on the radio, with Lulu smiling and rhythmically swaying back and forth to the beats, even while she sits behind the wheel. It's all a fantasy, of course, and there is no heavy message involved, unless it's "lighten up a little and try to avoid old boyfriends."

Light Then Dark

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 5 May 2021]

This is Jeff Daniels in his early days, straight laced and handsome. He becomes involved with anything goes Melanie Griffith. She is an adventurous and a little crazy. The first half of the movie is a sexual romp, controlled by the Lulu character. Once Daniels (Charlie) sees he has little choice, he lets go. Once he participates willingly, things turn dark. He is brought to a class reunion where the Ray Liotta character, a dangerous ex convict comes to the fore. Soon the joyfulness of the movie disappears and what was a romp is now like any other threatening film. Daniels is forever changed and we find him to be quite dangerous himself.

An entertaining mix of comedy and drama from Jonathan Demme.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 21 January 2017]

Jeff Daniels plays Charles Driggs, a straight arrow yuppie who decides one day to skip out on his cheque for lunch. A stranger, "Lulu" (Melanie Griffith), notices this, and correctly surmises that he's a "closet rebel" kind of guy. He's the perfect guy whom she can fit into her plans, so she sort of "abducts" him and makes him pose as her husband. However, the guy whom she is actually still married to, an ex-convict named Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta, in his breakthrough film performance) shows up, and things take an uglier turn.

As written by E. Max Frye and directed by the talented veteran Jonathan Demme, "Something Wild" is engaging for quite a while. It manages to be pretty zany in spirit, and somewhat unpredictable. Daniels, who's often made a career out of playing straight arrow types, and the kooky, delightful Griffith, who sports a brunette wig at first, work decidedly well together. One is amused by their misadventures and wondering what sort of mess that Lulu will next create for Charles. However, the film is somewhat overlong, and changes tone for its second half for a much more conventional narrative of Ray dominating the proceedings and occasionally terrorizing Charles. (Not to mention Charles taking quite a shine to Lulu and refusing to let her go without some sort of fight.)

Fortunately, Daniels and Griffith are so utterly engaging that they make this trip worthwhile. Liotta is a powerhouse in the role of the volatile husband; I'm sure that back then, theatre goers and critics alike could see that this guy was going places. Lovely Margaret Colin is good in an underwritten role, and is unceremoniously dropped from the story. One other complaint that this viewer had was that this cast features some top notch character players - Tracey Walter, Charles Napier, Robert Ridgely - and director cameos (John Sayles as a motorcycle cop, John Waters as a used car salesman), and then makes such brief use of them. One might wish that they had more to do.

The eclectic soundtrack is solid accompaniment for this generally agreeable movie. It may not move that well, but it does come up with some very nice moments along the way.

Seven out of 10.

One of the Best Cult-Movies of the 80's

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 17 July 2010]

In New York, the yuppie newly promoted Vice President Charles Driggs (Jeff Daniels) meets the sexy and free-spirited Lulu (Melanie Griffith) after cheating a restaurant for fun. Lulu offers a ride for him in her convertible but she "abducts" Charles and they go to a motel in New Jersey, where they spend the night together. On the next morning, she heads to her hometown in Pennsylvania to spend the weekend with Charlie. When they arrive in her mother's home, she discloses her real name – Audrey Hankel – to him and she tells her mother that Charlie is her husband. In the night, they go to her high-school reunion posing as husband and wife. But Audrey's ex-husband Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta) that has just left prison on probation meets her in the party. Audrey does not tell Charlie who Ray is and Charlie accepts Ray's invitation to drink some beer with him and his date Irene (Margaret Colin). After a while, Ray becomes violent, hits Charlie and kidnaps Audrey. But Charlie does not intend to give up on her.

"Something Wild" is one of my favorite films and one of the best cult- movies of the 80's. I have just watched this film at least for the sixth time and I still love it. The sweet and gorgeous Melanie Griffith has one of the best performances of her career in the role of a young woman detached in a moment from the social conventions and extremely conservative when she meets her mother. Lulu is a reference to Louise Brooks' character in "Pandora's Box". Jeff Daniels is also excellent and very funny in the role of a naive and silly executive that finds that is better off feel like a live dog than a dead lion. Ray Liotta is also fantastic in the role of a cynical scum. The screenplay divides the story in two parts and fight in Charlie's house is impressively realistic. Last but not the least, the soundtrack is fantastic. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Totalmente Selvagem" ("Totally Wild")

Note: On 18 August 2014 I saw this movie again.

Wild Indeed

[vangamer · 7/10 · 11 November 2022]

Ok, it opens as a quirky, kinky modern screwball comedy with a sexy lead who is supposed to be engaging as she drinks and drives - and rips off small businesses.

And then we have the aspiring young business exec who naturally can't resist the leggy yet dangerously neurotic female who keeps putting him in tight binds.

So despite not personally liking the amorality of Lulu in the opening, Demme's film begins to gel into a workable cult fable as slightly larcenous working-stiff falls for mad woman - only to have now dear-departed Ray Liotta show up.

Of course the film's main hook - wonderfully supported by Ray's presence - is the lighting switch from Indie-music-driven crime-spree romp to life and death thriller.

And while the story is totally hokum, it largely worked for me - until the very ending.

Given the very dark turn of the movie - and how it must have shattered Jeff Daniel's life - I winced when the film Hollywooded back to happy-ending land with Jeff unbelievability quitting his job - to do what, exactly?

By the end everything was overwhelmingly nothing but safe movie tropes - it would have been so much more interesting had Lulu simply disappeared - leaving Jeff to ponder his life now.

Also - the scene with the polite mother who wasn't fooled at all was very interesting - and a bit more of that level-headed maturity would have made a much deeper ending.

Liked the soundtrack, though.

A true type of roller-coaster movie from beginning to end.

[RTFJR1 · 10/10 · 8 June 1999]

This movie really keeps you going without knowing what's coming around the corner. Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith were terrific together and Ray Liotta added a great dark side to the comedy of Daniels and Griffith. What looked like a strange love story turned into the strangest ending which kept my interest right to the end. Great movie which showed Daniels and Griffith are good actors. Have seen this movie at least 15 times and still love it!!!!

Enjoyable screwball comedy without much comedy

[Aylmer · 7/10 · 28 August 2022]

This film plays a lot with audience sympathy. At first Jeff Daniels is not set up to be a sympathetic character in the slightest; doofy, neurotic, and easily taken for a ride (literally). However, he slowly becomes much more likeable and relatable the more we find out about him. This reminds me somewhat of John Candy's character in PLANES TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES. Unlike that movie, there really aren't too many laughs as the free-spirited romp with Melanie Griffith soon devolves into a strange stalking thriller that premeditates a lot of what we saw later with Ray Liotta in UNLAWFUL ENTRY.

Liotta easily steals the film from the rest of the cast with his beaming blue eyes and intensity although Griffith does come in as a close runner up. All they needed were Kim Coates and Meg Foster to drop in and we could have had the cold steel blue eyes convention of the century. Unfortunately, Liotta feels like he's in a totally different movie from the rest of the cast, and the third act feels just as grim as anything you'd see in the 90's. It's easy to see how Demme went on to direct MARRIED TO THE MOB and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS after seeing this film, as otherwise you'd think those other two were completely unrelated.

Entertaining 80s update of the screwball comedy genre

[gedhurst · 8/10 · 26 April 2017]

Rewatching Something Wild recently some 30 years after I first saw it, I was struck by how vividly the craziness of the story stayed in my memory, but also how surprising and unexpected the plot turns were. This is a good sign that that someone took time to craft an excellent plot. In fact, the film makers have lavished tender loving care on every aspect of this film and given it a lot of heart.

Melanie Griffith does everything but set the screen on fire as she takes Jeff Daniel's humdrum office worker life and turns it upside down. We're then taken on a helter-skelter anything-goes trip where the couple leave the city and the staid conventions of middle class life behind as they plunge into a passionate affair and journey deep into the comforting familiarity of small town America with its motels, folksy shops and and kindly people. Ironically this is where the greatest danger lurks in the shape of old flame Ray Liotta, grinning maniacally and flipping the madcap whimsy into insane violence.

Every minor character on this trip fills you with good vibes, in sharp contrast to the sinister kind of twist that current-day Hollywood mainstream gives to bit players. The soundtrack, for fans of 80s music, is fantastic - you're bound to hear stuff you haven't heard for ages.

This film works on many levels: the actors are charming and charismatic, and their parts are well and sympathetically written. It's a loving memoir of a materialistic decade that many thought was money-obsessed but was filled with many hapless characters like this reviewer who lived similar episodes in their own lives: except not so wild!

Attempt to be cool.....

[FlashCallahan · 6/10 · 15 January 2012]

Newly promoted vice-president Charles Driggs meets free-spirited "Lulu" after cheating a restaurant for fun.

Lulu offers a ride for him in her convertible but she "abducts" Charles and they go to a motel in New Jersey, where they spend the night together.

Next morning, she heads to her hometown in Pennsylvania to spend the weekend with Charlie. When they arrive in her mother's home, she discloses her real name - "Audrey Hankel" - to him and she tells her mother that Charlie is her husband.

They go to her high school reunion posing as husband and wife.

But Audrey's ex-husband Ray Sinclair that has just been released from prison on parole meets her in the party.

After a while, Ray becomes violent, he hits Charlie, and he kidnaps Audrey. But Charlie does not intend to give up on her...

Having not seen this movie for over twenty years, i did not know what to expect, as I was young then, and didn't really get the connotations.

While it still feels freah today and highly original, one cannot help but think that it takes a while to get going.

The first act is the zany comedy, and it really hits you as much as it does Charlie, what is happening to him, and why? The second act is the romance, as soon as Griffith changes her hair, it changes her personality and the personality of the film.

And then once we are introduced to Ray, the film turns dark instantly. I have never seen an entrance by a character that can change a films atmosphere in literally a second.

One moment, you feel like Charlie is finally getting the upper hand in life, and then Liotta changes everything Liotta is easily the best thing about this film, as his cold glare and psychopathic tendencies really make this film something else. If somebody had left the room for twenty minutes and came, they would honestly think they were watching a different movie.

Daniels and Griffith are fun, and really make the film more endearing, but it does sometimes feel mixed up and a little schizophrenic.

But the film can never be called boring, because it does entertain, especially seeing and pointing out all the cameos.

Now I've Seen It--Now I Wish I Hadn't

[quarterwavevertical · 2/10 · 11 December 2022]

I remember reading the ads for this movie when it was in theatres in the 1980s, though I was never tempted to see it.

I vaguely recall watching it before on, I believe, a commercial TV channel, so some of the naughtier parts of it would likely have been edited. I wasn't impressed, largely because I thought the plot was a disorganized mess.

Since I often give a movie I didn't like a second chance, I thought I'd give it another try. (I did that with "Jurassic Park" and "Stargate" and I now have DVD copies of both in my movie library.) Turner Classic Movies showed it earlier tonight and I needn't have bothered.

My original assessment that the plot was a disorganized mess was confirmed. I quickly lost the thread and found myself wondering just what in the dickens is going on. The first half is supposed to be a comedy, but I found it completely unfunny. It reminded me of an equally lame movie, "After Hours", which had been released about a year earlier.

It only became remotely interesting when Ray Liotta's character appeared but, by then, I'd completely stopped caring. Even then, the movie failed to captivate me. And, no, I didn't think that Melanie Griffith's going topless made her character any more interesting or her performance any less annoying.

By the time the film ended, I wondered what the point was.

Avoid this one.