Something Wild, written by Max Frye

Something Wild, written by Max Frye

This film has an excellent director, Jonathan Demme, and a wonderful cast:

Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith and Ray Liotta, to mention just the three most important performers.

Jeff Daniels plays Charles Driggs, the Vice President of a company who decides not to pay his bill in a restaurant and is followed outside by Lulu aka Audrey aka Melanie Griffith.

Charlie thinks this is an employee of the place and is embarrassed by his gesture, then he is offered a ride to the office in the car of the attractive woman.

She is not driving him to the office though, but on the ride of his life, with mirth and some serious trauma involved.

They pretend they are married, first in front of her mother, whom they visit and then to a school reunion, where Charlie meets a colleague from work, very surprised by Charlie and the stupendous woman he is with.

However, the next meeting is the crucial turning point, for the character they meet is Ray, Audrey's ex husband...although she said her name is Lulu, Audrey is the real one.

Ray aka Ray Liotta is a harden criminal, just out of prison, with the appearance and manner of a maniac, a psychopath- the latter is actually the person who feels nothing, no emotions and is thus often capable to take advantage of the feelings of the others.

For a while, the ex prisoner pretends to be nice,  enjoying a sort of a game, amused by this strange apparition, Charlie, who is so unlike Audrey.

The ruthless, cunning criminal makes The ignorant Charlie drink and think that they are getting along well together, takes him and Audrey for a ride, the hey enter a gas station where he makes his companion wave at the security cameras and then attacks the attendant, hurts him and his unknowing partner in crime.

The reason for all this was to incriminate Charlie who was made to pose for the cameras and to rob a place in the manner of the Scorpion, which is supposed to be unable to prevent himself from biting- in a story about it anyway.

The hurt man is cared for by Audrey, who pleads with the fanatic to let the poor innocent alone, and after some discussion, the bloodied unwilling participant in the crime is allowed to go away and mind his own business.

What follows is one of the humorous scenes, which takes place at another gas station, where the hero stops for gas, takes a shirt, then shorts, a cap, which, together with the ridiculous sun glasses he already had on, contribute to make him look like a clown.

Charlie is watching the couple and takes advantage of the best moment, when Ray has taken his hostage to a restaurant, where a police officer is sitting at a table.

Alhamdulillah, the hero is not just an affable, pleasant, charming, kind, but cowardly individual, he shows he can be courageous and he confronts Ray.

He tells the criminal he wants Audrey, he will take her and there is nothing that the paroled man can do, given that the law is at the next table, he surely has weapons on him, he has just robbed a gas station and surely his car outside is hot.

So give me the keys to the Cadillac and I will pay the check...

And then takes the keys but he does not pay and Ray has no money, for the clever Charlie has taken his wallet as well.

In the first instance after their escape, Audrey tells h r savior that they are even now, she had saved him once, now it was his turn so he needs to get out of the car, in the middle of nowhere aka...Virginia.

She is mad because Charlie has lied about being married, he is in fact divorced and lied to protect himself in the first place and then kept doing it for fear that he may lose this dear woman if she knew the truth.

After this argument, they drive together to his home, where the vicious enemy makes an impetuous, unexpected - to some extent- violent apparition through the glass of the window and a terrible fight ensues, with Charlie looked at the sink in the first stage.

Something Wild is a very good comedy drama, with formidable performances, as is the norm for Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith and Ray Liotta.