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December 1998

Wild Things
Reviewed by Doug Schneider
DVD Format

Overall Enjoyment: ****
Picture Quality: ****
Sound Quality: ****
Packaged Extras: ***1/2

Starring Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards

Directed by John McNaughton

Theatrical Release: 1998
DVD Release: 1998
Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen/Full Screen


Every so often a movie comes along that can be described as pure movie-going trash. This is not to be confused with trash, as in garbage heading for the can. Rather, this is trash, as in trashy, unseemly, exploitative fun. Trash movies can be a good thing, a very good thing, and these are movies that I will unashamedly admit to loving -- providing they are done right. Although many try the trash genre, few actually succeed.

The plots of these movies are relatively simple and involve things like sex, murder, sex, deceit, sex, money and then some more sex thrown in for good measure. Making trash is not easy -- it takes skill to produce something that on the surface appears mysterious, in almost a film-noir way, but underneath knows what its roots are and the type of audience appeal it's going after. The biggest box-office winner in recent years is Basic Instinct starring Michael Douglas and, of course, Sharon Stone. This movie is proof that all the talent in the world doesn't matter when you do mid-air splits on a day you forget to wear your underwear. Face it, Stone's famous full-frontal is one of the most talked-about screen shots of the last decade -- strange, but true. Many great films have come and gone, but everyone still talks about that one shot. Trash filmmaking can leap hurdles and make things like gaping plot holes and any lack of credibility in the story seem almost irrelevant.

Wild Things follows in that same vein and never pretends to be anything more than just that genre of entertainment -- for that purpose it is wildly enjoyable. While Wild Things was embroiled in controversy for its sexual content, frankly, it is not nearly as dirty or lurid as things we see written about in our newspaper regarding political leaders and their friends. Sure there is sex and sexual innuendo, and some may scowl at the notion of a film built around teenage sexuality, but, believe it or not, it is done in a harmless and fun sort of way. Why? Perhaps because stars Neve Campbell and Denise Richards never really seem close in age to the high-school seniors they portray.

Matt Dillon is Ray, a high-school teacher in Florida. Campbell plays against character as the bad girl Suzie Toller, the one from the wrong side of the tracks whom everyone suspects is a wrong-doer simply because she's not rich in a town where everyone who is something is rich. She's the trailer trash in this film trash. Denise Richards, last seen in the abysmal Starship Troopers, plays in character as the gorgeous rich girl Kelly Van Ryan (do you ever notice that rich people need three names -- or sometimes if you are really, really rich, like Madonna, then you cut it back to one?). Kelly's from the right side of the tracks, and in the public's eyes she’s the girl who can do no wrong. We learn Kelly's father has committed suicide and left a bundle in a trust fund.

The rich women of this town like Ray -- certainly enough to date him, definitely enough to sleep with him, but according to Kelly's mother, never enough to marry him. And when he is accused of sexual wrong-doing with young Kelly, well, the town is up in arms and Kelly's mother (a wonderfully bitter Teresa Russell), with lawyer in tow (Robert Wagner), wants revenge on Ray. Meanwhile, Sam Lombardo (Kevin Bacon), the detective on the case, knows something's gone awry. All isn't what it seems, he thinks, and he's bent on finding out exactly what happened. Thrown into the mayhem is a wonderfully inspired cameo performance by none other than Bill Murray. In this role, Murray is better than in a number of his recent films combined.

Wild Things takes place in hot humid Florida and revels in the notion that everyone is sleeping with everyone and not everyone may be what they may seem. For a movie like this to work you must go on the premise that everyone does things for two reasons -- sex and money. And if any of these things go wrong, then they are willing to kill.

In movies like this, the story is much more explicit than any action that goes on on screen. 9 1/2 Weeks, Basic Instinct and Wild Things are promotionally pumped up to be more explicit and more erotic than what we've seen before; however, its nothing but a ploy to get inside our pocketbooks. Wild Things goes for the gusto with a three-way between Ray, Kelly and Suzie and then even adds in a Kelly/Suzie romp in a backyard pool. At the end of it all your mind will have imagined more than the screen ever showed. But Wild Things is still moderately titillating.

Campbell went into the movie with a no-nudity contract and that is the way it remains. Dillon, it would seem, did the same. Denise Richards, mind you, grins and bares it and, as a result, chews up the screen almost every time she appears -- she smolders and this is her star vehicle. Her post-carwash pose inside Ray's kitchen (of course, there had to be a water fight before she came indoors) is reason enough to rejoice in the perfect freeze-frame that DVD can provide. This is poster-girl pinup material at its finest. On the other hand, Kevin Bacon, who is credited as executive producer of the movie, must have had an equality-of-the-sexes agenda on his mind. Making sure that this movie would not only show female nudity, he decides to expose himself too! Unfortunately, this is done much to the laughs and giggles of women in the theater audiences -- not the effect he was going after, I would think. Sorry Kevin, you should have consulted Marky Mark's Boogie Nights special-effects man before pressing your flesh onto celluloid history.

Wild Things is unashamed, sinful fun. Director John McNaughton keeps the pacing solid. His original claim to fame was the disturbing Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, and in recent years he directed the critically acclaimed (although not widely seen) Normal Life with Ashley Judd. Wild Things is packed with so many twists and turns that by the time you get to the end it almost seems to make sense -- almost. In fact, at the end there are even some extra scenes amidst the credits that explain what went on during time lapses that occur in the film. Does it all make sense then? Heck no, but that still doesn't matter. Like I said, trash filmmaking overcomes these obstacles simply by the nature of its content.

The DVD contains a number of features that will undoubtedly help sell a lot of the shiny discs, including some deleted scenes. However, unlike Boogie Nights, which also included extra footage, there are no real gems here. The visuals and sound of the film are all very good. Although I can't say that anything on this disc knocked me out as outstanding, it is still all top-notch and very difficult to criticize.

In recent years I chalk up only a few movies in this trash vein that really work like this one -- Basic Instinct, U-Turn, and in some ways Bound (probably the best of them all and a superior suspense thriller to boot). While some movies are serious, others are just serious fun. You may not wish to own Wild Things, but you will at least want to see it.


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