WILD THINGS

INTRODUCTION: A clever take on America's so called class system (I've never felt that a class system based entirely on income deserves the name) in yet another slice of small town weirdness where the alligators are constantly poking up their noses from the swamp to remind us that there's danger lurking just beneath the surface here. 

SYNOPSIS: Feuding high school students, rich debutante Kelly Van Ryan (Richards) and poor white trash Suzie Toller (Campbell), come forward independently to accuse their counsellor Sam Lombardo (Dillon) of rape. Detective Ray Duquette (Bacon) sets forth on an investigation that reveals more than he ever expected. After this point it's probably best just to lay back and go with the flow as twist is piled upon twist and turn upon turn, until long after "the end" of the movie. 

REVEIW: McNaughton shows the love of excess that established him as a controversial director with "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer" by producing what is outwardly an attractive Hollywood thriller and adding into to the mix rape, lesbianism, brutal murder, violence, corruption, Richards breasts and Bacons penis. 

As for the plot itself, let me assure you that Occam's Razor does not apply here, with the choice of two explanations it is not the simplest, in fact it's often not even the second simplest, it is full of mind-blowing twists and turns, very reminiscent of one of my favourite movies of last year, the BAFTA winning "Le Apartment". I successfully predicted the end of "The Usual Suspects" and "Se7en" (although I must confess I didn't expect it to be the same guy in both films) but this film left me bewildered. I'm still not entirely certain what happened. 

Dillon puts in one of his subtlest performances in years, and Bacon (complete with member) puts in one of his only performances in years. Theresa Russell and Gloria Perez deserve special mention for the performances as Kelly's mother and Duquette's partner respectively, both thankless supporting roles that they bring alive. Murray and Wagner turn up for amusing cameos that, while potentially distracting in a film this complex, just add to the fun. However, at the heart of the film is the combined acting talents of Neve Campbell ("Scream") and Denise Richards ("Starship Troopers") two hot young actresses from two of the most entertaining movies of last year, and "Wild Things" is in many ways a combination of those two films. 
Just as "Scream" parodied the horror genre and "Starship Troopers" parodied militaristic sci-fi genre, so "Wild Things" parodies the crime thriller, subtler than the self referential in-jokes of "Scream" but too self-conscious to play it so straight you're left wondering if it was parody. As with "Starship Troopers", "Wild Things" falls somewhere between these two extremes, by portraying a good crime thriller and then taking it a stage further than is realistic. 

Let's not forget that apart from anything else this movie is very useful for anyone playing six degrees of Kevin Bacon, the game briefly mentioned in "Scream 2", where you must link a Hollywood celebrity to Kevin Bacon via the movies they have appeared in, in less than six moves. 

Stylish post-modern take on film noir. 

Mutts Rating: ****

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