Wild Things (film)

Miami area high school guidance counselor Sam Lombardo is accused of rape by two female students, wealthy and popular Kelly Van Ryan and poor outcast Suzie Toller. He hires lawyer Kenneth Bowden to defend him.

At trial, both of the girls admit having lied to get revenge on Sam: Suzie for him failing to bail her out of jail on a minor drug charge and Kelly for him having an affair with her mother. Sam and Kenneth negotiate an $8.5 million settlement for defamation. It is revealed that Sam and the two girls were accomplices who used the trial to get money from Kelly's wealthy family.

Police detective Ray Duquette suspects the trio are working a scam. Against the wishes of the district attorney's office, he continues investigating Sam. He tells Kelly and Suzie that Sam has already transferred the money to an off-shore account. Suzie panics and goes to Kelly, who comforts her. Kelly, however, calls Sam and tells him they may have to get rid of Suzie. In the pool, Suzie attacks Kelly. They fight, but eventually end up kissing, while watched by Ray, unbeknownst to them. A few nights later, at the beach, Sam apparently kills Suzie while Kelly waits nearby. They drive to the swamp where Sam disposes of the plastic-wrapped body.

Ray and his partner, Detective Gloria Perez, investigate Suzie's disappearance. Her blood and teeth are found at the beach while her car is found at a bus terminal. The D.A.'s office again insists that Ray drops the case, but he asks Gloria to watch Sam. Sam shows Gloria Kelly's school files, which claim she is a troubled and violent girl. Meanwhile, Ray goes to Kelly's house to confront a scared and upset Kelly. After Ray enters her room, three gun shots are heard, after which Ray exits the room and collapses. He later claims that Kelly shot first and he killed her in self-defense. No charges are filed against him, but he is dismissed from the force for disobeying orders.

It is revealed that Sam is working with Ray. Although Sam is displeased Ray killed Kelly instead of just framing her for Suzie's death, he agrees they have fewer loose ends. The two go sailing on Sam's sailboat, where Sam tries to kill Ray. When Ray fights back, he is shot and killed by a very much alive Suzie. She then poisons Sam's drink and knocks him overboard, so his body will not be found.

Several post-credits scenes fill in the missing details. The five co-conspirators are Suzie Toller, Sam Lombardo, Sgt. Ray Duquette, Kelly Van Ryan, and Atty. Kenneth Bowden. Suzie, is revealed to be the ultimate mastermind of the entire plot as she alone sails off into the sunset. Suzie walks into Sam's guidance office and drops a bunch of pictures on his desk showing him and Kelly Van Ryan having sex. Presumably, she blackmails Sam into helping her mastermind the whole thing.

Kevin Bacon described the script as "the trashiest thing he had ever read" but "Every few pages, there was another surprise." Bacon also executive produced.[6]

Robert Downey Jr. was first choice for the role of Sam Lombardo that ultimately went to Matt Dillion. Downey was chosen because of his highly publicized drug problems, and although he was in recovery he was seen as too great an insurance risk. Producer Rodney Liber said "we couldn't make it work," and the production company even offered to put up some of the money but "There were just too many lawyers and insurance people and bond-company people involved."[6] John McNaughton said Denise Richards first audition was good but her much improved second audition convinced them to cast her.[7] Richards' lawyer negotiated a detailed contract about how much nudity would be filmed, including the option to use a body double. Richards did not use a double and filmed the scene herself after drinking a pitcher of margaritas with Neve Campbell.[5][8] Campbell's contract had a strict no-nudity clause.[5] Campbell took on the role wanting challenge herself and to do something different from her Party of Five character, to avoid being type cast.[9] Bacon also had a no nudity clause in his contract but without giving it much thought allowed McNaughton to use the shot that he thought looked best, and a moment of frontal nudity was included in the film. He was surprised by how many questions he got about it at the [American] press junket, and noted that the European press did not ask about it at all.[10]

Filming in the Everglades proved difficult due to severe weather conditions. A tornado almost crushed a couple of trailers. McNaughton said production had to be halted and the police called when a real dead body floated into view.[6][11]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 62% based on reviews from 61 critics. The site's consensus states: "Wild Things is a delightfully salacious, flesh-exposed romp that also requires a high degree of love for trash cinema."[12] On Metacritic, it has a score of 52/100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "C+" on scale of A to F.[14]

Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, praising McNaughton's directing and the plot twists. He described it as "lurid trash, with a plot so twisted they're still explaining it during the closing titles. It's like a three-way collision between a softcore sex film, a soap opera and a B-grade noir. I liked it."[15] Gene Siskel gave the film a marginal recommendation.[16]

Janet Maslin of the New York Times praised Campbell & Richard's performances, and also McNaughton's direction for adding "a decadent gloss to this far-fetched, quintuple-crossing tale", although she criticised the plot as being "loony".[17]

In the Washington Post, Desson Howe described the film as "clearly a crock", and although it "may not have a single redeeming feature, but it doesn't have a dull moment, either."[18] In the same newspaper, Stephen Hunter described the film as being "as tawdry as someone else's lingerie, yet not without a certain prurient watchability".[19] The Orlando Sentinel said that the film overall missed the mark, but that Murray in his small role manages to steal the show.[20]

Variety praised the casting of Dillon, Bacon, Campbell, Richards, Russell, Murray and Snodgress: "[Y]ou have an ensemble that appears to be enjoying the challenge of offbeat roles and unusual material. There's not a wrong note struck by the game group of players." The magazine also praised the film as "original" with a "glossy, unreal quality that nicely dovetails with the pulse of the drama".[21]

The film grossed $30.1 million in the United States and Canada and $37.1 million internationally for a worldwide total of $67.2 million.[2][22][3]

Three sequels were released direct-to-video, Wild Things 2 (2004), Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough (2005) and Wild Things: Foursome (2010). The sequels recycled much of the plot, dialogue, and direction of the first film, albeit with different actors. All three films, take place in Blue Bay, as well as its high school, Blue Bay High and the Blue Bay Police Department (BBPD).[26][27]

In 2006 the producers tried to develop a spiritual successor and John McNaughton was in talks to again direct a script by Stephen Peters titled "Backstabbers". Richards and Campbell were also in talks to star.[28]

In the "Wild Things" episode of the web television series Pen15, the film is watched by a number of middle school kids, who are enraptured with the sex scene. This sets the mood for one of the major characters getting her first kiss from a boy.[29]

• Wild Things at IMDb
• Wild Things at AllMovie
• Wild Things at Box Office Mojo