Wild Things (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
A high school guidance counselor is framed for raping 2 of his students in 'Wild Things', directed by John McNaughton. Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon) is said his counselor, living in the beautiful, secluded South Florida community of Blue Bay. His life is turned upside down when Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards), the seductive teen daughter of billionaire heiress Sandra Van Ryan (Theresa Russell), comes to his house to wash his car (as a nice gesture ... yeah right). When Kelly leaves his house, her clothing is torn, & she accuses Sam of raping her. Sandra Van Ryan may have had relations with Sam Lombardo in the past. So her daughter's rape confession enrages her all the way to the local police station.
Things get worse for him, however, when troubled trailer trash teen, Suzie Toller (Neve Campbell, of Scream fame) also steps forward; claiming that Sam raped her, as well! With his career ruined, his friends deserting him, & convinced that the 2 girls have framed him, Sam hires a freelance lawyer, Ken Bowden (the always enjoyable Bill Murray) to defend him in court. Investigating the case, detectives Ray Duquette & Gloria Perez (Kevin Bacon, Daphne Rubin-Vega, of Rent fame) becomes suspicious & they suspect a conspiracy involving Sam, Kelly, & Suzie! Are they all in it? You'll think you know. But as the film progresses, deepens, twists, & turns, you'll find that nothing is what it seems.
I mildly enjoyed 'Wild Things' for several reasons. One, there is a dark, sarcastic, comic tone throughout this teen film noir. And the comic tone comes from the fact that there are enough twists to cover 3 different movies. The twists become gimmicky by the end, but they kept me energized through some of the preposterousness of the plot. Another draw for the film is that there are several erotic scenes where characters are showin' lots of skin (including the now-famous girl-on-girl scene). Yeah, it's tawdry (like most soap operas), but I wasn't complaining. The other aspect I liked was the filming of the exotic locales. I'm very familiar with South Florida. And I have to say that the cinematography & editing of this gorgeous location is truly scintillating to see.
The acting in 'Wild Things' is not a draw. No one character has much depth. The actors hired were hired because they can pull-off a role, look great naked, & don't mind being part of a sleazy film geared towards the late-teens & early twenties crowd. Denise Richards is the shallow sex-kitten. Neve Campbell is the mysterious slut. Matt Dillon & Kevin Bacon are along for the paycheck. And Bill Murray is just Bill Murray here; and I'm grateful for that, haha. Yeah, 'Wild Things' is wild, fun, quickly-paced, kinetic, flashy, sexy, watchable ... but it's also hollow, mindless, poorly written, ludicrous, superficial, & contrived (at times). So despite myself, I kinda/sorta liked that crazy mish-mash.
Things get worse for him, however, when troubled trailer trash teen, Suzie Toller (Neve Campbell, of Scream fame) also steps forward; claiming that Sam raped her, as well! With his career ruined, his friends deserting him, & convinced that the 2 girls have framed him, Sam hires a freelance lawyer, Ken Bowden (the always enjoyable Bill Murray) to defend him in court. Investigating the case, detectives Ray Duquette & Gloria Perez (Kevin Bacon, Daphne Rubin-Vega, of Rent fame) becomes suspicious & they suspect a conspiracy involving Sam, Kelly, & Suzie! Are they all in it? You'll think you know. But as the film progresses, deepens, twists, & turns, you'll find that nothing is what it seems.
I mildly enjoyed 'Wild Things' for several reasons. One, there is a dark, sarcastic, comic tone throughout this teen film noir. And the comic tone comes from the fact that there are enough twists to cover 3 different movies. The twists become gimmicky by the end, but they kept me energized through some of the preposterousness of the plot. Another draw for the film is that there are several erotic scenes where characters are showin' lots of skin (including the now-famous girl-on-girl scene). Yeah, it's tawdry (like most soap operas), but I wasn't complaining. The other aspect I liked was the filming of the exotic locales. I'm very familiar with South Florida. And I have to say that the cinematography & editing of this gorgeous location is truly scintillating to see.
The acting in 'Wild Things' is not a draw. No one character has much depth. The actors hired were hired because they can pull-off a role, look great naked, & don't mind being part of a sleazy film geared towards the late-teens & early twenties crowd. Denise Richards is the shallow sex-kitten. Neve Campbell is the mysterious slut. Matt Dillon & Kevin Bacon are along for the paycheck. And Bill Murray is just Bill Murray here; and I'm grateful for that, haha. Yeah, 'Wild Things' is wild, fun, quickly-paced, kinetic, flashy, sexy, watchable ... but it's also hollow, mindless, poorly written, ludicrous, superficial, & contrived (at times). So despite myself, I kinda/sorta liked that crazy mish-mash.