Twenty years ago this week, I saw the film “Wild Things” on the big screen. The movie came along a few weeks after I had turned 20 years old, and going to see “Wild Things” that Saturday was a belated birthday present from some of my coworkers, or so I thought.
Turned out the coworkers I saw “Wild Things” with only wanted me to go because I could get them all into an R rated movie. Regardless, going to the General Cinemas in Braintree Ma. that night was fun and it was an event. The 7:05 showing was sold out, as was the 8:15 on another screeen. But since we really wanted to see the movie, we decided to stay until the 10:30 show.
Going in, I don’t remember any of us knowing much about “Wild Things.” Sure, we knew the movie starred Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, Kevin Bacon, Denise Richards and Bill Murray, but it wasn’t like today where you can find out spoilers the second a movie opens. So it was nice when all the twists and turns the movie had, really surprised us.
From what I remember, everyone in our group liked “Wild Things.” But of course after we saw it, all the guys in the group couldn’t stop talking about was the scene where Neve Campbell and Denise Richards got it on with Matt Dillon. Like I said earlier, I was twenty years old, and neither I nor my co-workers had girlfriends.
Meanwhile, the girls in our group made fun of us for liking the threesome scene, but all they could talk about were Kevin Bacon’s bits, so we made fun of them for that. However, everyone agreed that Bill Murray stole every scene he was in. Strangely enough, “Wild Things” was the first time I liked Bill Murray in anything. Yup, you heard that right. I didn’t care for him before I saw him here. Crazy, I know.
I haven’t watched “Wild Things” since probably 2000 or 2001, so I don’t know if it still holds up. But on the night I saw it in the theater, I was amused in a couple of ways. One, “Wild Things” was surprisingly funny, and one of the most entertaining crime flicks from the 1990’s. The script was clever, and the characters were engaging.
Another thing that struck me while I sat in the theater, was how good Neve Campbell was. She only plays one character, but Campbell found a way to giver the role distinct personalities in each act of the movie. It was a shame she never got the credit she deserved for her work in this film.
At the end of the day, going to see “Wild Things” turned out to be just as much fun as the movie was. It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty years already, and it’s a shame we never got a proper sequel. And no, the low-budget direct to video crap that followed does not count.
For my money, nothing will beat the original “Wild Things.”