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Title: Wild Things (1998)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Kevin Bacon | ... | Ray Duquette | |
| Matt Dillon | ... | Sam Lombardo | |
| Neve Campbell | ... | Suzie Toller | |
| Theresa Russell | ... | Sandra Van Ryan | |
| Denise Richards | ... | Kelly Van Ryan | |
| Daphne Rubin-Vega | ... | Gloria Perez | |
| Robert Wagner | ... | Tom Baxter | |
| Bill Murray | ... | Ken Bowden | |
| Carrie Snodgress | ... | Ruby | |
| Jeff Perry | ... | Bryce Hunter | |
 |
Cory Pendergast | ... | Jimmy Leach |
| Marc Macaulay | ... | Walter | |
| Toi Svane Stepp | ... | Nicole (as Toi Svane) | |
| Dennis Neal | ... | Art Maddox | |
|
|
Diane Adams | ... | School Secretary |
Having recently been named educator of the year, Sam Lombardo is the well-liked guidance counselor and sailing instructor at Blue Bay High School on the Florida coast just outside Miami. The student body of the school is largely comprised of the offspring of the country club set, and while he helps any student he can, he especially tries to mentor those who are disadvantaged, such as Jimmy Leach who would not have been able to afford being in the sailing program otherwise, and tough Suzie Toller, a proverbial swamp girl who he's helped through a few scrapes with the law in the absence of any parents, Suzie living with her streetwise grandmother Ruby at an alligator sideshow zoo. Although not socioeconomically part of that country club set himself, he nonetheless has ingratiated himself within it, he having slept with a good number of the country club maidens, he currently settled into a relationship with Barbara Baxter, the well-off daughter of high powered lawyer Tom Baxter. Sam's ... Written by Huggo
Guidance councillor Sam Lombardo is popular with the kids in a small town. However when he is accused of rape by Kelly, the daughter of the powerful Van Ryan family, he finds this existence starting to fall apart. Things look worse when Sgt.'s Duquette and Perez find that Suzie Toller also claims he raped her. But when the case goes to court with Lombardo defended by Ken Bowden, things take the first of many unexpected twists.
Ask yourself at the start of the movie what you want to get out of it. Are you looking for a smart thriller that will leave you breathless or are you looking for a couple of sexy moments where gorgeous girls get naked and kiss each other? If you want the former then `The Usual Suspects' is probably still available at your local video store. If you want the latter then this will suit you down to the ground.
Sadly I expected a sexually charged thriller and was disappointed to find it didn't really deliver. The first half of the story is good as it feels it is building to something you know things are not as simple as they seem, but what is behind it all. The answer to this question is a let down and, worse still, it sparks a final hour of one twist after another each being more and more silly than the last. This really spoils it as it isn't clever it just tries to look clever by trying to confuse the audience the end result is boredom, tiredness and a feeling of really not caring any longer. After a while the twists become obvious I began to expect the most absurd thing and in most cases it came true.
The sexy stuff is good however but if you want that then why not just rent a soft porn title instead? The girl-girl stuff and the nudity simply isn't enough reason to watch this although I admit that Richards is gorgeous and it is quite pleasant to see her and Campbell get it on.
Dillon leads an impressive cast on paper but few are allowed to shine. He himself is quite dull lifeless. Bacon is clearly a bigger actor that the role appears to need and hence spoils some of the later twists by his presence. Richards and Campbell are good but only because they are only needed to look sexy and seductive, something they do well. Russell and Wagner are wasted and Murray is trapped doing a lazy neck-brace joke for his scenes.
Overall this is worth watching once with a pizza and a beer. The twist are silly but may do you if you want something trashy while the sexy stuff is pretty well done but does feel like the film is exploiting it's audience by delivering nudity to cover the plot holes. Trashy, slightly exploitative and only worth watching if you're in a lazy mood.