Day Fourteen: Wild Things

I'd kind of wanted to see this film for a while, because it's featured in Knocked Up (see last Tuesday) and it was an installment in The A.V. Club's ongoing feature The New Cult Canon. It's not the kind of thing I usually like--campy thriller full of intrigue and hot girl-on-girl action--but I enjoyed it. It's over-the-top and twisty enough to be hilarious as well as captivating. It kind of reminded me of Teeth in that way--kind of gross and crazy, but keeps you guessing and laughing. This movie was even more tangled and exaggeratedly sexualized that that one, and though I don't know if you'd actually call it good, it's definitely entertaining.

The fact that it's full of double-crossing and shocking reveals and surprising switches of loyalty reminds me of the movie Duplicity, with Clive Owen and Julia Roberts, which came out a few weeks ago. It's gotten good reviews, but I have no real desire to see it. My friend Erik told me that it keeps you guessing and that everyone is out for him or herself, which sounds a lot like Wild Things. I told him that I usually like that kind of movie when I see them, but I rarely want to see them. It's very true: thrillers, whether they're light and crackly or dark and violent, are rarely on my list of movies to see. I'll sometimes see such a film if it's getting lots of good reviews and/or has been nominated for awards, and almost always I like them. The year in movies 2006 is a good example of this: I was coerced by friends into seeing The Prestige and The Departed, both of which involve lots of secret identities and sleight of hand, and I loved both of them: they were probably my two favorite movies of that year. But I barely noticed them or planned to see them until my friends encouraged me.

Maybe a movie like Wild Things, which on paper I would probably shy away from--and even in reality was a little lukewarm at times--should be a wake up call for me, to branch out from my beloved diet of indie, dialogue-heavy comedies and coming-of-age films. Maybe I should start moving more mysteries and thrillers to the top of my Netflix queue. We'll see.