[Publicity photos of characters from this film are available on the Vortex Technology WWW server via the "Professor Neon's TV & Movie Mania" URL: "http://www.vortex.com/ProfNeon.html".] WOLF A review by Professor Neon June 12, 1994 Starring: Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader, Kate Nelligan, Richard Jenkins, Christopher Plummer Directed by: Mike Nichols Produced by: Douglas Wick Written by: Jim Harrison and Wesley Strick Columbia Pictures; 1994 MPAA Rated: R Professor Neon's rating (0-10, 5=average, 10=best): 8 Total run time: 122 minutes Release date: Friday, June 17, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We all know about werewolf movies. From Lon Chaney, Jr.'s tormented character in "The Wolf Man" (1941), to David Naughton's "watch him change before your eyes" portrayal in "An American Werewolf in London" (1981), we know all too well about the dark side of lycanthropy. But might there not be benefits as well as problems with being a werewolf? This question is at the core of Nicholson's portrayal of Will Randall in "Wolf." Fundamentally, "Wolf" is not a horror film. If you're interested in seeing non-stop violence and lots of spurting blood, with Jack Nicholson's face lengthening into a muzzle before your eyes, you're going to be disappointed, because you won't find those in the film. On the other hand, if you'd be intrigued by a character study of an already unhappy man who receives an unsolicited "gift" from a wolf bite, a gift with both "good" and "bad" ramifications, you should enjoy this movie. "Wolf" starts off in the obligatory manner--Nicholson's character is bitten out on a lonely road at night. But upon his return to his (about to be decimated) job at a New York City publishing house, he begins to change--very slowly and at first almost unnoticeably. His senses are heightened, his virility is enhanced, his business sense is sharpened. He indeed does also have some "problems" at night--but his violence is not at random, nor are graphic scenes of violence a fundamental part of this film. The conflict between the positive and negative aspects of the character's transition is at the heart of "Wolf," and what left me thinking about the issues for quite some time afterwards. Michelle Pfeiffer's character (Laura Alden), the daughter of Will's publisher boss (played by Christopher Plummer), has made a career of bringing home men her father would find "unsuitable," and has a rather checkered past (one of her talents is picking open handcuffs). She's drawn simultaneously to Will's new found power and pain, without initially knowing why. As you might expect, the interaction between Will and Laura is a central component of the film. Director Mike Nichols ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," "The Graduate," "Catch-22") and Jack Nicholson have worked together several times before--perhaps most notably on "Carnal Knowledge" (1971). Whether or not Nicholson's performance is up to the $15 million reportedly paid him for "Wolf," it is indeed difficult to picture anyone else playing the role. Nicholson's intensity is undeniable and uniquely powerful. Pfeiffer also gives a fine, if somewhat subdued performance, which is in keeping with the overall tone of the character's personality. James Spader's role as Will's back-stabbing protege Stewart Swinton is also good. While make-up effects are kept to a minimum, the special makeup effects that were needed were aptly provided by Rick Baker, who, as it happens, won an Oscar for his makeup work in "An American Werewolf in London." Since it's not a "slash-'em-up" type of film, "Wolf" may not appeal to some of the younger segments of today's movie audiences. But as a study of man and the animal within, it leaves us with questions definitely worth pondering. [ Professor Neon ] neon@vortex.com --- Professor Neon's rating for "Wolf" (0-10, 5=average, 10=best): 8 --------------------------------------------- We have a variety of publicity photos and trailers, video interviews, and related materials for "Wolf." In the near future, we plan to make available via a WWW server a range of these and all sorts of other TV/Film/Video related materials over the Internet (stay tuned for announcements). For right now, still photos are the easiest, since the video materials are rather bulky until we have mpeg video encoding facilities (for example, the digitized trailer for "Wolf," in the form of an ".avi" file for playback on Microsoft Windows, is about 8 megabytes in size--an mpeg version will be much smaller). The order in which we make such materials available may be influenced by feedback from the network. If you have particular interests (trailers, high-quality B&W publicity photos, sound clips, recorded interviews with film stars and crew, etc.) please let us know by sending your email to: neon@vortex.com --------------------------------------------- "Professor Neon's TV and Movie Mania" is a half hour audio show that features a look at a broad universe ranging from classic to current television, films, and videos, with a special emphasis on the unusual, odd, silly, strange, bizarre, cult, surreal, and weird. New editions of the show are distributed biweekly on the Internet via the Internet Multicasting Service in Washington D.C. The shows are available as audio files which can be retrieved via FTP from any of the many Internet Multicast / Internet Talk Radio archive sites around the world. Once you've retrieved the appropriate audio file, you can play it on virtually any workstation, PC, Mac, or other computer equipped with even simple audio facilities. 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