Something Wild turns 40 this week, and Jonathan Demme’s genre-defying comedy thriller still feels like a jolt. The story begins as an uptight investment banker, played by Jeff Daniels, is taken on an impromptu road trip by a mysterious, care-free woman, played by Melanie Griffith, then turns dangerous when her ex-convict husband, played by Ray Liotta, appears. For anyone rediscovering it, here are eight facts from the production and release history.
Scorsese was busy, so Demme got the script
E. Max Frye wrote Something Wild as a spec script while at film school. He got an agent from the script and said his ideal directors were Martin Scorsese or Jonathan Demme. Since Scorsese was busy on After Hours, the agent sent it to Demme, who read it and was enthusiastic.
Demme said he didn’t recognize these characters from any other movies he had seen. The script had a powerful, as well as pertinent, thing to say in the midst of a great yarn.
Melanie Griffith found Ray Liotta in acting class
Demme thought of Melanie Griffith for the lead while reading the script, particularly impressed by her performance in Body Double. The production had trouble finding an actor to play Ray until Griffith suggested Ray Liotta from her acting class.
Kevin Kline was nearly the male lead
Demme thought of Kevin Kline for the male lead. Orion suggested Jeff Daniels instead, who had just made The Purple Rose of Cairo for the studio.
The title came from a song left off the CD
The Troggs’ “Wild Thing” gave the film its title and was sung in the convertible scene. The soundtrack album featured only 10 of the 49 tracks in the title credits. Notable omissions included the school reunion songs performed by The Feelies, including “Fame,” “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and “I’m a Believer,” and The Troggs’ “Wild Thing.”
Reggae was used to sell a new way of seeing America
Demme placed a great deal of emphasis on music. He explained that reggae was used a lot because part of the theme was Jeff Daniels literally waking up and seeing things for the first time in a long time after being “such a shut-down, bone-headed yuppie.” Showing America to an exotic kind of music, he felt, helped sell “this new look at things.”
Critics saw a Hitchcock one-better
Something Wild was acclaimed by critics. It holds a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40/10, and a Metacritic weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on 14 critics. Chicago Tribune critic Dave Kehr gave it a perfect four-star review, writing, “It’s not every day that someone goes Alfred Hitchcock one better, but in Something Wild, Jonathan Demme has done it.”
Audiences were a little less wild
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B−” on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert rated it 3½ stars out of 4 and wrote: “This is one of those rare movies where the plot seems surprised at what the characters do.”
Criterion’s restoration got Demme’s sign-off
On May 10, 2011, The Criterion Collection released Something Wild on DVD and Blu-ray. The Blu-ray featured a new, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Tak Fujimoto and approved by director Jonathan Demme. It also included new video interviews with Demme and writer E. Max Frye, the original theatrical trailer, and a booklet with an essay by film critic David Thompson.
Which of these Something Wild facts caught you off guard? Tell us your own favourite memory of the film.
Facts from Wikipedia: Something Wild (1986 film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
