On-the-rails Charlie meets out of control Lulu, and after she offers him a ride, she kidnaps him. Stars Melanie Griffiths, Jeff Daniels, Ray Liotta, and Jack Gilpin. Written by E. Max Frye, directed by Jonathan Demme, released in 1986.
I guess you can't really review Something Wild without giving away the big spoiler, which I was unfortunately aware of before going into it. So I will say that this was a cool all over the place movie and was a good watch. If you're worried about spoilers, stop reading here and go see the movie.
To everyone else: Something Wild starts as a happy-go-lucky whimsical romp, with maniacal Lulu having the time of her life just trying to get a rise out of suppressed yuppie douchebag Charlie. I've never thought Melanie Griffiths was that good an actor, and Something Wild doesn't alleviate that but Lulu's disaffected nonchalance isn't a demanding role and Griffiths sells her. Jeff Daniels, who is a good actor, handles Charlie well, transitioning the character from rube to accomplice at a very gradual and believable pace. Ray Liotta plays a psychopath again. Oh yeah, this movie has a psychopath in it, and well into the film the story becomes a fairly tense thriller. It's difficult to say whether or not the genre shift was successful, as I knew it was coming and kept expecting a sudden turn, but the movie didn't suffer from it, and all the characters felt like they were acting naturally. The ending seemed tacked on, like it was scrambling to finish the romantic comedy it started, but doesn't debase the whole piece.
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