7.5
MGM+

Not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination, especially when viewed nearly forty-plus years: despite her iconic Louise Brooks-style look, and despite her wonderful performance which bestows a level of interiority to her character that the script does not allow for, Melanie Griffith's Lulu remains a prototype Manic Pixie Dream Girl, a yuppie fantasy woman there largely to facilitate the male protagonist's character development. Lulu/Audrey also becomes somewhat of a reactive character after the film carries out its celebrated tonal shift mid-way through, her loss of agency in a story that she was previously the driving force of meaning that the film does lose something. But despite this, there is still a lot to enjoy in SOMETHING WILD. For one thing, the aforementioned tonal shift really is brilliantly executed, as a sensational Ray Liotta in a star-making turn wanders into frame-- and changes the entire tone and genre of the film, from a frothy-but-fun screwball romantic comedy to a surprisingly tense thriller (albeit one which still has significant comedic elements). For another, there is a young and incredibly game Jeff Daniels, hot off the madcap THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO and here playing a morally-challenged yuppie who, despite his amoralness, always manages to keep audience sympathies on side. And then there is the Jonathan Demme of it all: a director who is superb at populating his cinematic worlds with lived-in, memorable characters who always make an impression regardless of how many scenes they appear in. So here we have director cameos from John Sayles and John Waters, along with Sister Carol performing a ridiculously catchy song over the end credits, and more besides. As such, SOMETHING WILD remains endearing from first to last.