Something Wild

Early in Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild, Charles Griggs, a yuppie New York City businessman played by Jeff Daniels, walks out on a lunch tab simply because he feels like it. Spotting this, Lulu, a young, impulsive gal played by Melanie Griffith, approaches Charles to call him on his misdeed. What soon follows is a delightful, inspired romantic comedy about two people who meet by chance and fall in love. Something Wild should be the same old song, but, luckily for us, Demme’s picture is exactly what its title describes.

As I watched Something Wild, I kept wondering when everything was going to go to shit. I wondered when Lulu would finally reveal herself as a pusher. As a young woman trying to make good on a hustle and screw poor Charles out of everything he’s worth. Strangely (or should I say, miraculously) enough, that didn’t happen. Lulu is a lady that falls fast, and Charles is simply trying to keep up. There are no strings, no rubber bands, just a quick love rooted in middle-aged rebellion. To be honest, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a cinematic love quite like the one between Lulu and Charles. This is a remarkably refreshing romance, which, given that the film was released 26 years ago, is saying quite a lot.

The film, as directed by Jonathan Demme (hot off the critical success of Melvin and Howard), and written by E. Max Frye, is a whimsical comedy that always manages to keep its farcical humor intact without ever pushing too far. Were it not for the stellar performances by Daniels (still fresh faced from memorable turns in Terms of Endearment and The Purple Rose of Cairo) and Griffith (enjoying sex symbol status post Body Double), Something Wild could venture into eye rolling territory.  As it were, the film should be remembered as a uniquely delightful spin on not-so-young love. Should be.

Things start to go wrong (for the characters and the film itself) when Lulu and Charles run into Lulu’s ex, Ray (Ray Liotta) at her high school reunion. Ray is a perfectly charismatic psychopath, and given Liotta’s penchant for playing them, he knocks the role out of the park. The fault of the film isn’t in its acting, it’s in its execution of the material, which becomes needlessly unhinged as it makes its way toward a forced, overly dramatic climax.

For his first several scenes, Liotta plays Ray with a great amount of comedic maniac energy. He’ll hurt you, but he’ll do it with charm. But as Ray flies more off the rails, so does the film. The result is a near-perfect romantic comedy tainted by a cookie-cutter lover’s revenge subplot.

After posting my In Character piece on Jeff Daniels yesterday, my good friends Dan and Steve highly recommended Something Wild. Having now seen the film, I can confidently say that Daniels’ Charles Griggs is one of the best performances of his career. The film as a whole, despite its many glorious eccentricities, doesn’t quite deserve such praise. B