Charles Driggs (Jeff Daniels) is outwardly a stuffy businessman in NYC. He tries to dine and dash, but gets called out by Lulu/Audrey Hankel (Melanie Griffith). She sees him as a secret rebel. She offers to drive him back to his office but instead takes him on a wild trip. She's stealing and sleeping with the married Charles in a motel. She brings him back to visit her mother and go to the class reunion as Charles' wife. Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta) and his girlfriend Irene (Margaret Colin) show up at the reunion and take Charles and Audrey for a drive. Ray turns out to be Audrey's ex-con husband and he holds up a convenience store.Melanie Griffith delivers one of the most memorable character in cinema. She's a Manic Pixie Dream Girl before that term existed. She's also more three dimensional than that. Jeff Daniels is almost as good and shows his versatility. My main problem with him is the first half where he is supposedly a married man cheating on his loving wife. Instead of a compelling reveal later on, I would have started with Charles as a lonely non-married guy. It kept me from liking Charles and thinking that he's a lousy cheater. Ray Liotta is always great as a crazed maniac. It's a wild times.

"Something Wild" is a pulpy-weird mess of a fantastic movie. The characters have depth, the dialog is sharp, and the music backing it all is glorious.Melanie Griffith is spot-on as a free-spirited woman who dabbles in petty-crime and men, but also successfully brings heart to the role. Jeff Daniels' physical comedy and innocence make him the perfect match, and what better estranged husband to bring into the mess than Ray Liotta. He was built for parts like this.Reminds me a bit of the directors earlier release, "Married to the Mob", only much better. There's something very serious about this film that really sets it apart. The violence and the threat of violence seems very real, and the characters actions seem extremely realistic, albeit totally wacky.There are many moments that make us read further into the characters and their situations... the trip to LuLu's(Griffith) Mom's house, and the moment when Daniels flees the hotel... these scenes are great because they don't treat the viewer like a 5 yr-old. You can really gather tons of insight into these characters without all of the information being spoonfed to the audience. It's a rather 'smart' film.The other great thing here is the music. It's truly fantastic. A great soundtrack is bolstered by some awesome Reggae/ska/rock selections and some live clips from the "Feelies" who are playing a reunion scene. The "Feelies" stuff is just incredible, and will make you seek out their stuff immediately, and the film incorporates all the music seamlessly and effectively throughout the film.The is one of the best 80's sleepers. It's right there with "After Hours", "Miracle Mile", "Body Double", "Gotcha", "Up the Creek" and "Let it Ride". A truly unique film. Risqué. Genre-bending. Sharp, witty, and thoroughly entertaining. I refuse to throw this the rom-com genre simply because the film is too good to be generalized like that.Highly recommended. 80/100You'll like this if you liked: Married to the Mob(not as good), After Hours(better), Gotcha(not quite as good) or Miracle Mile(close, very close, perhaps a touch better)Having Melanie Griffith running around naked the whole movie doesn't hurt, but even on that note there's a weird realistic edge to all the sexuality in the film. It's unbelievably sexy without being dirty, cliché', or overdone.So glad I revisited this little gem, and very happy to own it.I can see how some may not care for it's seedy characters, but that's life man... definitely don't see how anyone should dismiss it or hate it for that reason.

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.

Impulsive nymphomaniac Melanie Griffith offers dull financial adviser Jeff Daniels a ride in her sports car, and then proceeds to initiate him into a thrilling underworld of sex and comic deception. Off-the-wall formulas were in at the time, and for its first 45-minutes or so this fairly representative slice of mid-1980s non-conformity suggests (with tongue in cheek) that crime and vice are legitimate cures for boredom. The fun and games begin with barely any time wasted on setting up the characters, and having thus lulled the audience into a false sense of security the film becomes suddenly every yuppie's worst nightmare, when Griffith's psychotic escaped convict husband (Ray Liotta) suddenly appears. The gradual shift in tone from humor to unease to headlong terror is terribly manipulative but highly effective, and the film actually improves as it grows more lethal. The hip, up-to-the-minute (circa 1986) soundtrack was compiled by John Cale and Laurie Anderson.