WILD THINGS (1998)
Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: John McNaughton
Written by: Stephen Peters
Starring: Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, and Billy Murray
Ingredients: Sexy teenage bisexuals, murder, money, secret plans
Synopsis: When a movie has a name like 'Wild Things,' I start to predict: either the film is a PORKY'S style college-kids comedy, or it's one of those sleazy B-grade flicks in the 'suspense' section of the local video store - - the type filled with bottom dwelling acting talent: like maybe a lady runs around in her lingerie, a guy gets decieved, and lots of sex is somehow involved. Turns out, WILD THINGS is B-grade pulp sex, murder, and money flick. The good thing about it is, if you can get past the long (45-minute) beginning, WILD THINGS turns into a trashy entertaining whodunit.
In the small wealthy coastal Florida town of Blue Bay, high school guidance counselor Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon) stands accused of raping nubile student Kelly Van Ryan (a gaunt Denise Richards). The film proceeds with the standard rape trial plot until another hot high schooler named Suzie (Neve Campbell) testifies with surprise information, resulting in a lucrative settlement. So much for the long part.
Now the movie starts to get interesting. When persistent cop Ray (Kevin Bacon) gets suspicious and continues digging up information on the involved parties even after the trial has ended, Ray finds a video camera and films hot high school babes in bikinis engaged in erotic tongue action. Even more important, the involved parties start turning up dead. What's going on here? Who is connected to whom, and who gets the money in the end?
Opinion: Fans of scream queen Neve Campbell will be satisfied with her starring role in WILD THINGS. On the other hand, Campbell and Denise Richards play high school sexpots, and the ill-timed pedophilia themes of WILD THINGS are likely to strike an angry nerve in American 1990s audiences, since today school behavior and educational reform are THE hottest political topics.
WILD THINGS falls under a tried and true category: 'suspense, noir, and deception among rich blue bloods at a beach front town.' But in a way, it's a new spin on the old formula. Instead of featuring yuppies at a New England cape or lifeguards and starlets at a California point, the setting of WILD THINGS is Florida. Another thing that's different about WILD THINGS is that after the surprise ending, the movie continues to play, showing many little flashback scenes explaining the various tricks the bad guy uses in order to deceive us. Very original.
Director John McNaughton must be fond of twists and turns. The big questions in this movie are: Who's the killer, who gets the money, and what's the connection? But just when the crowd thinks it has everything figured out, WILD THINGS tosses in another riddle.
Suspenseful erotic thriller? Not quite. More like B-grade whodunit, with lots of gratuitous silicon and lips action. But I'll say this: trashy and unbelievable as it is, WILD THINGS provides likable tongue-in-cheek intellectual entertainment because it really keeps you guessing.
Reviewed by David Sunga March 23, 1998
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