Something Wild

Jonathan Demme had been working his way up from lively drive-in pictures to acclaimed but unseen character dramas and indie projects (such as Stop Making Sense) when he finally broke through in 1986 with his first bona-fide hit, Something Wild, a screwball road movie that veers into dark alleys and still ranks as one of his most nuanced and entertaining efforts. Melanie Griffith delivers a career-best performance as Lulu, a sexy, impish free spirit with a larcenous streak who semi-kidnaps straight-laced businessman Charles Driggs (Jeff Daniels) and takes him on the ride of his life. As their personal baggage spills out along the way, Lulu's past catches up with the pair in the form of Ray (Ray Liotta), a creepily charming bad-boy ex. Liotta delivers a riveting and terrifying performance as the guy who pushes harmless rebellion into genuinely dangerous and predatory territory. The whole thing plays like a Hitchcock production reworked for the freewheeling '80s, with a lively soundtrack and cameo appearances by John Waters and John Sayles. Criterion has remastered the film (which had previously been available on DVD in movie-only editions) with a restored digital transfer supervised by cinematographer Tak Fujimoto and approved by Demme for the new DVD re-release and Blu-ray debut. Extras include interviews with Demme and screenwriter E. Max Frye, plus a booklet with an essay by film critic David Thompson. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)