Friday, November 18, 2011

Virginia is for Ray Liotta

Something Wild (1986)
directed by Jonathan Demme
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Carnegie Library

Something Wild is the sort of movie that makes me like New York, maybe because the characters spend most of the film in another state. The city is busy with small talk, petty acts, and cheap food. Restaurants are crowded and friendly. There is the sense that every table is full of guests with stories at least as interesting as this one.

I love that the plot hinges on a high school reunion dance because there aren't many real-life events for adults that indulge nostalgia but retain a genuine adolescent optimism. If Demme keeps everything believable by not spreading either the violence or the comedy too thin, Ray Liotta is the secret ingredient, or the toast in this protracted, painful metaphor. He is absurd and sympathetic, and it's to his credit that I thought of Ray Sinclair as "funny" even after the movie devolves into Straw Dogs-lite, thankfully without the rape.

But while Something Wild is a nice reminder that taking the afternoon off is never that big of a deal, it's still a movie about one more yuppie realizing what he missed by wasting his twenties behind a desk at the bank. Everyone's a little crazier in Wild at Heart, but Sailor goes to jail. Ray Sinclair is more Sailor than Bobby Peru; Ray, not Charles, should wind up with Lulu in the end, and a better script would make that possible.

Demme won't even let Charles Driggs cheat on his wife, a red herring early on. Charles didn't abandon his kids and he isn't an irresponsible father. There isn't a single reason to dislike him (I'm even a Jeff Daniels fan) - and that's why I dislike him. If nothing else, watch it for John Waters' cameo as a used car salesman and a lesson in expression and a well-timed grin.