The Movie
Director Jonathan Demme's offbeat Something Wild is often lost in the shuffle of the director's '80s/early-'90s canon. It was his first dramatic feature film following Swing Shift two years earlier, a horrendous working experience that almost convinced him to quit filmmaking altogether. Fortunately for audiences, the possibilities of first-time screenwriter E. Max Frye's script drew him back behind the camera to craft what could be described as a road movie, a crime story, but also something different and unpredictable.
It begins when a stuffed shirt named Charlie (Jeff Daniels), a successful businessman with more to him than we might guess at first glance, accepts a ride from pretty, mysterious East Villager Lulu (Melanie Griffith) whom he just met. She peacefully "kidnaps" him, although he doesn't put up much of a fight, and while she may seem like a carefree rebel, she has her own private agenda.
Lulu and Charlie make an odd couple, but together they share a weekend neither will soon forget, even before they run into a shadowy fellow from her past (Ray Liotta) and matters take a dark turn. We maintain that strange what-will-happen-next fascination from the first half, but now we've gone from mischief to wanton violence, a drastic shift that didn't sit well with many viewers 25 years ago.
The Picture
We have been gifted with a rather lovely new, restored transfer at a director-approved 16:9 aspect ratio, supervised by director of photography Tak Fujimoto. The image is quite clean and crisp, enough that we can see that the two newspaper articles Charlie reads in Lulu's old room in fact contain identical text, both irrelevant to the story they are supposedly telling.
Colors are punchy although the blood looks a little fake as it often does in movies. Grain is modest and out-of-focus backgrounds have a natural, filmic look. Blacks are generally strong and detailed, although in nighttime scenes they can be a little harsh and mushy. Panning and tracking shots are also prone to a bit of flicker.
The Sound
The faithful DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix displays fine separation between the left and right mains, particularly in the original music written for the film. The style was to utilize "source music" whenever possible--maybe songs on the radio or a band playing at a dance--with definite changes in the musical vibe as the movie progresses. There's not a whole lot else going on other than dialogue, which is always clear. There's a gunshot and some breaking glass but no real "wow" factor. The songs are the stars of the soundtrack, and they shine, with decent lower frequencies too, considering that there's no dedicated subwoofer channel.
The Extras
The new 33-minute video interview with Oscar-winner Demme manages to cover much the same ground as a full running audio commentary would have, providing us with a new understanding of the director and his work here. And then there's an alternative point-of-view from writer E. Max Frye, who serves up a nine-minute overview of the genesis of the script. Both of these features are in high definition.
Final Thoughts
The themes and even the look of Something Wild are very '80s, although not dated per se as Demme managed to avoid a common pitfall of the era, making a movie that was hip but not slavish to the whims of MTV. Fans of both his earlier and later works (look for Demme regulars in the bit parts) will want to check out this terrific new master, and his extended interview.
Product Details
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