Howling fun
Mike Nichols director of such great films as Silkwood and The Birdcage decided to step out of his element in 1993-94 and create a movie with actors Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer called Wolf. It certainly is a very odd film to make considering his resume, but he took the helm and did what he could. If you’re not familiar with the film it’s about a man named Will Randall who is a senior editor for a publishing firm. While driving home from Vermont he hits a wolf with his car and inadvertently gets bit trying to remove the carcass from the road (it’s not really dead). When he gets back to the city (I believe it’s NYC), he starts feeling some changes. First, he sleeps wonderfully at night and wakes up recharged and younger than the night before. Second, in the process of loving his newfound youth, he ends up finding his protege’ (who is taking over his job) and his wife sleeping together; this unleashes the part of him that really changed. Somewhere in the movie he finds out that he’s actually turning into a wolf and begins to take on aggressive nature, and senses, that come with the animal. All of this combined equals out to be horrifying, funny in some areas and dramatic. Randall must find a cure; find a way to get his job back and end up happy.
I know the description sounds a bit confusing and disjointed, but the movie ended up that way. It was a series of moments where you would feel sorry for Randall and hope for the worst against Spader’s Stewart Swinton. Quite honestly, a story like this could have been better suited for a television series rather than a two-hour film. In one part of the story it has Randall getting the shaft from Swinton, who steals his job and wife. The second part of the movie Randall meets up with Pfeiffer’s rebel character Laura, who is the daughter of Randall’s boss. Between all of this mess, Randall is slowly turning into a wolf. Lastly, what is a wolf to do when another wolf is after him? I won’t spoil by going into that last part. When you break this movie down it could probably go through 22 episodes on a cable station (maybe FX). Regretfully, when all of these parts are put together it feels very rushed and disconnected. The likelihood of Swinton being a gigantic a-hole by stealing both Randall’s job and wife is a bit far fetched. I’m not saying that this couldn’t happen; I’m just saying that the percentage is very low. If Spader’s Swinton didn’t do both then the rest of the pieces of the story fall apart, which is bad. So, the writers have to convince you that Swinton is this terrible and horrible in the span of 10-15 minutes. Tough gig and one that doesn’t fully work. Don’t worry you’ll certainly hate Swinton by the end of all this, but you won’t hate him immediately.
The fun side of this movie is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Sure you have these dramatic problems go on, but there are more elements here that keep it light. For example, when Randall pees on Swinton’s shoes in the bathroom it’s the sign of defiance and revenge; it’s also damn funny. This is a perfect way to put the icing on the cake for screwing over (back?) Swinton after everything he has done to Randall. You will find yourself giggling and wishing that Randall would literally piss all over this guy. There are little moments through out the film that keep the violence and drama at bay. Plus, you get to see Nicholson’s double clearly doing all the hustle work for him when he’s in ‘wolf’ mode; that is quite funny as well (damn blu-ray!).
Speaking of blu-ray, the movie looked sharp and crisp. The HD upgrade they did for this was nothing short of gorgeous, as well as the audio that helped move the movie along. Each was remastered beautifully and in some respect too well for its own good. When you can see the soundstage and your stunt double perfectly because the picture is so detailed, it does hurt the film slightly. This is one of those rare occasions where HD might have brought down the believability of the story. In any case, it does its job with clarity.
As for features, no go.