Demme has said that he was drawn to Something Wild’s script (written by E. Max Frye, of Amos & Andrew and Foxcatcher) because of its refusal to remain any one thing, and the movie uses these pit stops to supercharge its versatility. Charlie and Audrey (née Lulu) head from mom’s house to Audrey’s high school reunion. Against music in situ from the Feelies—a group far too cool to ever take that kind of gig, but right at home in a Demme flick—the couple leans into the groove of their fling: this is temporary, we have each other now, let’s enjoy ourselves. They mix and mingle with the ghosts of Audrey’s high school past, who all seem universally impressed to share her presence. Among them, serendipitously, is Larry, a quad-green dork from Charlie’s investment firm, who can’t believe a guy like Charlie could score a girl like Audrey. It’s a homerun of a homecoming, a reunion so kismet it can only exist in hypotheticals. But before the night can find its happy ending, Audrey’s liner-lidded past comes dancing up beside her: “Hi, baby. Surprise.”
Ray (aptly named and played by Ray Liotta) crashes through Something Wild’s chassis like a commuter train, commandeering its star power and leaving a seismic wake strong enough to shift the movie’s tone from rom-com to neo-noir. Ray is Audrey’s ex-husband, fresh from a stint behind bars and none too pleased to have been replaced by a walking college billboard. I first saw Something Wild after Liotta’s legacy had been cemented for years, but it’s no surprise that this was his star-making turn. Ray is a kinesthetic coil of a heel, as charming as he is terrifying. He is smart, savvy, and incalculably cool, the kind of guy who can convince you that driving off a cliff was a good idea even as you wait for an ambulance in a crumpled car. Demme encouraged Liotta to play Ray like he was the nicest guy in the room, and the dynamic effectively sells how someone as headstrong as Audrey could end up under his thumb.
Audrey grabs Charlie to leave the reunion before Ray can do any damage, and Ray follows at a safe distance—but not before he learns from Larry that, contrary to the story Charlie’s been feeding to Audrey, Charlie is no longer married, that his wife has taken the kids and left him alone in Long Island. Ray stuffs the info in his back pocket like a spring knife, and takes off after Charlie and Audrey.
Road trips can turn time elastic. I live in Chicago, and whenever I visit my folks in Michigan, leaving the city takes the lion’s share of my time in the car. But I only feel the trip’s length when I hit Indiana, where Chicago’s sensory graces iron out into an unbearable stretch of gray. Liotta has the reverse effect: Ray shows up around Something Wild’s halfway point, but he heightens the pace to such a degree that you’ll swear he was only there for the finale. He beats the next act out of the movie like a mismatched street fight. Ray convinces Charlie and Audrey to come out drinking. Ray implicates Charlie in a convenience store robbery. Ray kidnaps Charlie and Audrey in yet another motel, where he beats Charlie bloody and reveals to Audrey that Charlie is not the married man he’d purported to be.