Something Wild

How do you characterize this picture? Picaresque might start it, but there is more. Jonathan Demme’s (whose work includes “Melvin and Howard” and “Stop Making Sense”) picture about a straightlaced exec, Charlie (the likeable Jeff Daniels, late of “The Purple Rose of Cairo”) led astray by the unpredictable Lulu (Melanie Griffith) and liking it. The picture is sort of a slow starter; we're not as charmed by Lulu as Charlie is, and it is a bit annoying. But she grows more endearing as layers of deception are revealed, and Charlie expands and opens up to her, and opens up himself. Demme directs with a subtle hand. At times the picture takes on an almost documentary look (in a very unforced way) so that we feel as though we are really looking in on real life. Things start out as a lark but rapidly turn darker when the couple meet up with Lulu's dangerous convict ex-husband, well played by Ray Liotta. He is a frightening character, made all the more so because he is the only thing that turns the carefree Lulu fearful and somber.

The rest of the picture is a struggle between the street-tough Ray and the naive Charlie, who does in fact rise to the occasion. Thematically this picture is not unlike “After Hours,” with a conservative nice guy led astray by peculiar women and finally threatened with violence from an unexpected source. The picture keeps us off balance, and it is a nice moment when we learn that Charlie is not so innocent as he seems; he has been doing some stringing along of his own. After things resolve in a burst of violence, a weary quiet settles over the film, as we lurch back into reality. It is like coming up for air after holding your breath under water for too long. The postscript, with Charlie abandoning the staid life and reuniting with Lulu, is not absolutely convincing, but you can buy it, just maybe, if he really is the secret rebel he had claimed to be. So. How do you characterize this picture? I'm not sure. It's not great, but it has a quirky energy all its own which makes it worth seeing.