Wild Things (1998)
***1/2 out of *****
Cast: Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, Theresa Russell, Denise Richards, Robert Wagner, Bill Murray Written by: Stephen Peters Directed by: John McNaughton Running Time: 113 minutes
I have to refrain from thinking like a typical guy as I review Wild Things. A typical guy should just go nuts for this sort of trash, easily giving it a rave review. I mean, how many male fantasies are NOT presented to us on the screen? You've got lots of attractive women either soaking wet, in bathing suits, their underwear, or just flat out nude. You've got sex scenes, including girls making out with one another. And you've got the world famous two-girl cat fighting. But I'm not your typical guy. While all the above is pretty good stuff, it's no different than your average direct-to-video stupid erotic thriller. Thankfully though, Wild Things delivers in other areas. Areas that real movies need to deliver in.
Wild Things is so sleazy that scum bag... I mean screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (Showgirls, Jade) must be convinced that he wrote it. You've got shades of Basic Instinct, Body Heat, and even Diabolique in there. Taking place in South Florida, Matt Dillon plays a high school guidance counselor (at a school which all the women are practically bursting out of their clothing, and there's not one remotely unattractive girl in the whole place). Early on in the film, he is charged with rape by one of his students (Denise Richards). Then another girl (Neve Campbell) also accuses Dillon of rape. What I've just described is the basis of the film, yet I haven't even scratched the surface on all the slime which will be presented to you. Nor will I even try to do so. The story takes so many twists, turns, and double-crosses that you just might get lost.
The cast is pretty good, one aspect that sets it apart from the before-mentioned stupid erotic thriller. Now the dialogue is laughably bad in most scenes, but it's usually delivered by the actors with that sort of tongue-in-cheek attitude, as of they are saying "Yes, we know it's silly too. Just watch." much like most of Starship Troopers was. The writer obviously knows this isn't Citizen Kane, doesn't he?. Bill Murray, brilliant as always, plays the strip-mall lawyer that Dillon hires to defend him. He adds the intentional humor. He has about 20 minutes of screen time, and it's all great stuff. The rest of the cast seems to be acting adequately enough, with the possible exception of Theresa Russell, who makes up for her bad acting by being scantily dressed most of the time. And Kevin Bacon (who also executive-produced) has one quick scene that will let you make as many new "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" jokes as you'd like. When you see it, you'll know what I mean.
A big problem I had was that the film spent way too much time trying just to confuse the audience. Forget the fact that the amount of double-crossing going on would just never work, what I'm talking about are individual scenes which are presented to the audience solely to fool us. Characters who have ulterior motives obviously have to act inconspicuous around others, yet many times they just keep acting, even when no one else is around!
Even as the closing credits start to roll, you'll want to stay in your seat as the film will flash back to earlier events, explaining itself. I don't believe I've ever seen that before, and it was a pretty interesting idea. Just be sure to stay seated, people behind you get pretty ticked off when you stand up to leave, and then keep standing to watch the screen.
Wild Things is certainly trash, no doubt about that, but it's entertaining trash. It knows it, and doesn't try to be anything but. It's humorous, both intentionally and unintentionally. And the story, while completely absurd, is interesting to watch unfold. And watching it unfold around young scantily clad women climbing out of swimming pools? Even better. [R]
The Jacksonville Film Journal -- Film Reviews by Chuck Dowling URL: http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Email: chuckd21@leading.net
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