Wolf (1994)

Publisher Will Randall becomes a werewolf and has to fight to keep his job.

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Jim Harrison, Wesley Strick

Stars:

Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader

2 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Nicholson	...	Will Randall
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Laura Alden
James Spader	...	Stewart Swinton
Kate Nelligan	...	Charlotte Randall
Richard Jenkins	...	Detective Bridger
Christopher Plummer	...	Raymond Alden
Eileen Atkins	...	Mary
David Hyde Pierce	...	Roy
Om Puri	...	Dr. Vijay Alezais
Ron Rifkin	...	Doctor
Prunella Scales	...	Maude
Brian Markinson	...	Detective Wade
Peter Gerety	...	George
Bradford English	...	Keyes
Stewart J. Zully	...	Gary

Storyline

Worn down and out of luck, aging publisher Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) is at the end of his rope when a younger co-worker snatches his job out from under his nose. But after being bitten by a wolf, Will suddenly finds himself energized, more competitive than ever, and possessed with amazingly heightened senses. Meanwhile, the beautiful daughter of his shrewd boss begins to fall for him - without realizing that the man she's begun to love is gradually turning into the creature by which he was bitten.

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Plot Keywords:

werewolf | publisher | sense of smell | manhattan new york city | bradbury building | 

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Taglines:

Inside every man there are two people-one good, one beast.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and werewolf attacks

Did You Know?

Trivia

Justin Kirk "portrays" Raymond Alden's deceased son in a series of pictures in a photo album. Kirk worked with Director Mike Nichols again on Angels in America (2003).

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Goofs

When Will hits the wolf with his car, the shot clearly shows the wolf being hit fully and squarely with the front bumper of the vehicle, which would have thrown the animal forward or caused the car to run over it. In the next shot, the wolf is squarely hitting the windshield.

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Quotes

Stewart Swinton: Good evening Miss Alden. May I call you Laura? Laura, if you scream, I'll kill you. I'll just... break your neck, okay?

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Connections

Referenced in Blood and Guts with Scott Ian: Rick Baker: Monster Maker (2013)

User Reviews

Wolfman Jack - 8 (excellent depiction of the corporate werewolf culture)

Even in the confines of big skyscrapers, it's a dog eat dog world.

Simply put, WOLF is a class act. The director is legendary. The acting is subdued yet electrically charged. To top things off, the Hitchcock style score by Ennio Morricone draws you in from the opening credits straight to the end. WOLF is such a unique installment to the werewolf tradition that it easily bursts through the bars of any category you place it in.

Mike Nichols boasts a career that is a study in itself. After artistically defining a post-war generation with the Graduate in 1967, he has been very selective with his projects behind the camera. Twenty-seven years after the Graduate, the veteran Nichols rises to the challenge of weaving a wide range of adult themes into one coherent werewolf movie. Stylistically, the shots and cinematography featured in the movie hearken back to an adventurous 70's spirit that has been abandoned in modern film. The combination of quick and slow zooms, along with expansive cuts of open spaces make the 125 minute story both rhythmic and engrossing.

WOLF is not the conventional werewolf movie we're accustomed to seeing, as the film is meant to induce a snicker as opposed to a scream. Although the scare factor takes a marked jump towards the end, the movie isn't really a horror movie. It focuses mostly on the canine tricks of corporate power, double-crossing, and primordial carnal knowledge. In this respect, James Spader upstages Jack Nicholson and almost steals the show.

Still, there's all the good stuff that comes with werewolf movies. The curse is a contagion transmitted by a bite. Who's the monster, and what makes the monster fearsome? What happens when Jack starts to turn? How far can Mike Nichols upset our comfort level? For all those horror fans out there, the make-up team did a superb job, no doubt influenced by the disjointed transformations of the original black and white wolf-man classic.

As a telltale sign of the film's sophistication, the werewolf theme is dramatically eclipsed by the true storyline – Nicholson's over-the-hill struggles in the publishing business. In the final examination, with corporate culture in mind, WOLF tends to resemble Wall Street or As Good as It Gets more than it does the Howling or American Werewolf in London. Nichols does a masterful job seamlessly weaving canine trickery into the workplace. Jack's heightened sense of smell detects his coworker's early morning Tequila. His pointed ears pick up juicy office gossip. In addition to these scenes, WOLF introduces an innovative corporate idea – urination and marking of territory, something that every sensible dog does when he feels like it!

The only detractor from WOLF is the quick and dirty relationship between Pfiffer and Nicholson. Even though the film is billed as a werewolf movie, this relationship somewhat stands as a centerpiece. To be sure, the sparse exchanges between the two stars feature witty dialog with plenty of chemistry. But despite this potential, the relationship somehow rings hollow and gets trampled beneath the other story lines that are taking place.

Apparently Sharon Stone was offered the female lead but turned the role down. To some extent, I don't blame her. The development of Michelle Pfiffer's character in the movie was an open question mark.

The Pfiffer-Nicholson love story culminates in WOLF's unique ending. If you happen to catch this movie, you can frolic through the woods with Jack along to Morricone's synthesized arpeggios. Then determine for yourself whether the ending adds or detracts from the movie. It's been a quandary for me ever since I saw WOLF for the first time in 199(?).

JY

Jimboduck-dot-com

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

17 June 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wolf

Filming Locations:

Bradbury Building - 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,911,366, 19 June 1994

Gross USA:

$65,002,597

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$131,002,597

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) Dolby SR Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1