written by stephen peters . directed by john mcnaughton . starring kevin bacon , matt dillon , neve campbell , denise richards , bill murray , robert wagner . rated r ( contains nudity , profanity , and violence ) 116 mins . synopsis : a wild teen-aged girl with an iq around 200 manipulates a beefy guidance counselor , a determined police detective , two trial lawyers , the u . s . judicial system , the news media , a millionaire playgirl , and her supersexy teen-aged daughter in an elaborate scheme to swindle millions of dollars . comments : for this week , i have decided to review a movie currently playing in theaters rather than an almost forgotten video collecting dust in the far corner of a rental outlet . this may become a trend as species 2 , a sequel to one of the best bad sci-fi films of the decade , is set to be released this friday ( april 10 , 1998 ) . anyway , this week's turkey is the sleazy , exploitative wild things , a film which shares quite a number of conventions with many of the b-level , direct-to-video-or-cable thrillers i have reviewed in the past . the movie , in fact , only possesses one noticeable difference : it has an all-star cast . let's be blunt for a moment . veteran film actors kevin bacon and matt dillon are technically the main stars here ; they are listed first in the credits and the majority of the film's running time favors them . wild things' producers , however , heavily advertised this movie as an erotic exercise between rising stars neve campbell and denise richards . the movie posters prominently feature the two rising out of a pool of water and staring at the viewer with sultry gazes . i suspect the target audience for this film was predominantly younger males ; though , surprisingly , the matinee showing i attended with my friend had an audience with far more women than men . if one's only reason to see wild things is to see ms . campbell and ms . richards get it on , then one will be remarkedly disappointed . a menage a trois does occur between the two ladies and matt dillon , but it is a poorly-lit , seemingly superfluous scene . the two also kiss a couple of times , but it feels mechanic and obligatory rather than racy as it was intended . neve campbell , by the way , does not strip naked at all . sorry , guys . wild things' advertised sexual fireworks fizzle here , but the movie itself , as bad movies go , is quite entertaining . the actors turn in hammy performances ( more on this in a bit ) , and the surprisingly complex script keeps the viewer guessing while the laughable dialogue is full of cheesy lines undercutting the seriousness of the subject matter . my friend and i chuckled throughout the movie , but the rest of the audience didn't seem to be in on it . don't go see wild things expecting a run-of-the-mill suspense film . ( it's an amusing exercise in sleaze populated with comically self-absorbed , greedy characters who all get what they deserve in the end . ) part of the film's qualified success comes from its cast . a number of fine , first-rate actors have fun with their characters . the attractive , young actress denise richards , of last year's megabudget starship troopers , nearly steals the show here as the pouty high-school student with a supermodel body who catches everyone's eyes . neve campbell , the scream queen of scream and scream 2 , drops her innocent , damsel-in-distress routine and turns 180 degrees in her role as the trailer trash girl who secretly instigates everything . the best supporting nods go to bill murray and robert wagner , both making surprise appearances in this , an atypical film for either of them . bill murray , in particular , is great as the fraud-obsessed lawyer who can sniff a lawsuit from a mile away . robert wagner is hilarious in his wooden portrayal of another lawyer . he seems to be doing a self-parody of himself which reminds me of his brief role in the john candy vehicle delirious . despite its humorous dialogue and delightfully smarmy actors , wild things cannot be excused for some of its shortcomings . while the first two-thirds of the movie moves at a breakneck pace , the last third becomes tired . without revealing too much , one character will kill another only to be killed by someone else . it becomes a cycle which tries the audience's patience . also , though this film is designed to be unexpectedly funny , a subplot deals with an affair that a guidance counselor has with two of his students . this seems inexcusably unethical and borders on pedophilia ( the students , to give wild things the benefit of the doubt , may be 18 ) . the audience should feel uneasy when they realize they are viewing what is supposed to be a sexual affair between a high school teacher and his students . wild things ends on a somewhat unique note . important background flashbacks are interspersed throughout the closing credits , and they are rather fun to watch . so , don't get up and walk out the theater as soon as you see the closing credits start to roll at the end . all in all , wild things is a pretty good and humorous turkey . it's certainly not for everyone , but for those who are into exploitative thrillers like basic instinct or sliver , you could find a lot worse than this . 
