It is clear this is going somewhere different from the very beginning and we go beyond the usually seen New York from the water into lesser but more interesting stretches. This quirky, off centre viewpoint is continued throughout the film although so much is happening with our main characters in this crazy take on a road movie that it is not always apparent. Constantly confounding one's expectations, this is a very exciting and occasionally worrying film. Jeff Daniels is surprisingly good and gets better as the film progresses, Melanie Griffith is great throughout and the only thing that prevents me giving this a full score and indicating that i would happily sit right down and watch it again straight away is........Ray Liotta. Now, is this guy scary in this or is he not the most scary character ever? Great to look at thanks to wonderful cinematography - street signs, shops fronts, odd buildings, the lot - this also has to be the film with the very best soundtrack in the 80s. Averse though I usually am to the music in films of this period, this has one of the greatest picture/music combinations ever - and that includes the later work of Tarantino, who just has to have been influenced by this gem. A must see but try and prepare yourself for the appearance of Mr Ray Liotta.

This movie is what I call entertainment. Melanie Griffith is so amusing as the sorceress - her performance here is my favorite. This film is pure art, so frugal and so full at the same time. Jonathan Demme manages to fulfill any possible expectation one may have from such a film, I mean you can find everything there: there is action of course, love, fun, and great songs. I love these rappers coming in the middle of the story from nowhere - this is art, when you feel you can do anything.

Melanie Griffith is Lulu, a manic pixie dream girl long before such a label existed, stylish and beautiful and carefree. Like all dream girls, it takes a certain suspension of belief, but it begins as a delightful romp into a life of throwing off obligation and self-imposed structure. Griffith is great, Jeff Daniels aptly plays the annoying milquetoast with many panicky lies, where silly and sexy things soon follow. One of the wonderful parts was the blasting reggae throughout.Then everything comes crashing back to reality as soon as she washes out the black hair; the fantasy is over and the depressing reality of leftover high school insecurity sets in and the past catches up. The mood whiplash is stark and the violence is sharp and brutal, but the climax is pretty satisfying.Ultimately, I can't help disliking the movie for completely demeaning what it started with. Lulu begins as the bossy, in-control dame leading a lost puppy, then the balance shifts, and she becomes the damsel in distress to Charlie's urban warrior, who's undergone a Straw Dogs/Falling Down moment and saves the day. She never even recovers a flicker of her old personality. In the end, it's just a fantasy, and a rather ugly one.And they woefully underutilized the shooting locations. New York and a wide swath of Route 1 up and down the mid-Atlantic gave such a chance for wide shots and a slice of Americana, but instead everything is too tight and focused to get the visceral feel of being along for the ride.

Having not seen this for over 20 years, my memory of it was as one of those obnoxious "crazy impulsive girl teaches uptight square how to loosen up" movies along the lines of BRINGING UP BABY or AFTER HOURS. In the simplest terms, that's not entirely off the mark, especially for the first half hour. But eventually it throws in some surprises and reveals a little more depth in both the lead characters. Had Jeff Daniels been protesting Melanie Griffith's actions throughout the entire film, it would have been unbearably annoying. The fun part is that he pretty much goes along with it, with only some mild complaining at first. Having said that, however, it still doesn't do a lot for me. The situations are fairly interesting, but Daniels doesn't bring a lot to the table and I have an extremely low tolerance for Griffith. The soundtrack is also really overrated, although I like Laurie Anderson and Big Audio Dynamite. There's some fun to be had and I have to admit the film is a lot better than I remembered it, but I don't get that excited by it.