Something Wild

1986 Comedy Drama

A wildly inventive and entertaining comic nightmare from former Roger Corman prodigy Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), this screwball odyssey is a ride to remember. Jeff Daniels plays clean-cut New York bond trader Charlie Driggs, who accepts a ride home from a strange but attractive lower-class woman named Lulu (Melanie Griffith). The sexy Louise Brooks lookalike doesn't take him home, but shanghais him for a bizarre roadtrip to Virginia that includes kinky bondage sex, destruction of property, and robbery. Things get stranger when Lulu tells Charlie that her real name is Audrey and takes him home to meet her mother, asking him to pose as her husband. The charade continues until her high-school reunion, where the roadtrip (and the entire film) takes a sharp U-turn into psycho-thriller territory. Audrey's dangerously psychotic ex-con husband, Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta), shows up. What had been a liberating fling for Charlie turns into a bloody and vicious battle for survival. more..

Director: Jonathan Demme

Starring: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta, Jack Gilpin, Margaret Colin

Reviews

  • One of the year's most fascinating flicks.... Brilliant performances by Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith and a newcomer named Ray Liotta give sparkle, and shadows, to Something Wild.

    Peter Stack - The San Francisco Chronicle

    27 April 2013

  • It has wit, originality, color, warmth and formal intelligence. It tempers its escapist dash with a touch of darkness, and for all of its playfulness, never departs from a fundamental seriousness.... Something Wild is superbly unpredictable.

    Dave Kehr - The Chicago Tribune

    27 April 2013

  • Demme finds haunting overtones in the somewhat old-hat situations of E. Max Frye's first screenplay. Something Wild also has three first-class performances: by Daniels, who seems to have resources that his earlier roles never touched; by electrifying newcomer Ray Liotta, and by Griffith as the maddening, mysterious Lulu.

    Sheila Benson - Los Angeles Times

    27 April 2013

  • Something Wild is quite a movie. Demme is a master of finding the bizarre in the ordinary.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    27 April 2013

  • With a screenplay from first-time screenwriter E. Max Frye and superior performances from his principal cast, Demme has created a unique and likable film.

    - TV Guide

    27 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Supporting Actor

    Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (1987)

  • Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy

    Casting Society of America (1987)

     
  • Best Motion Picture

    Edgar Allan Poe Awards (1987)

  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical

    Golden Globes (1987)

     
  • Best Supporting Actor

    National Society of Film Critics Awards (1987)