Let's just face it: the ensemble cast of John McNaughton's overcooked potboiler aren't nearly as wild as they pretend to be. While it is interesting to see Bill Murray cameo as a low-rent sleaze-bag lawyer, it's also easy to see Neve Campbell exploiting her perverse character as a pathetic attempt to expand her acting range. Director McNaughton throws in one too many metaphorical images of alligators (they're predators, get it?). While Kevin Bacon is effectively slimy and Matt Dillon plays his role just dumb enough to make you wonder if he's smarter than he appears, the movie just topples over itself. The twists get pretty desperate toward the finale, and Robert Wagner embarrasses himself as a rival lawyer trying to act tough. And Denise Richards, although admittedly appealing to look at, delivers her lines with the flatness in the tradition of "Plan 9 from Outer Space."
Review of Wild Things
