Yes, Ray’s a violent psychopath, but he’s also a man in pain. That owes a lot to the sense of danger Liotta creates, but also to the yearning and sadness he brings to the character. Ray Liotta in "Something Wild" (screenshot) This bohemian city life Lulu’s been living hasn’t been an act of running wild but of running scared. That breezy comedy of before? It’s been an illusion. Liotta plays Ray, Lulu’s violent husband, and his unexpected appearance robs her of her seemingly bottomless confidence and fills her with fear. Then, as Charlie and Lulu slow dance at her 10th high school reunion (to a song played by director Jonathan Demme’s favorite band, The Feelies), Ray Liotta sidles into the frame, sporting a tight haircut and blue eyes of terrifying intensity and taking the breath out of the movie. For 50 minutes it seems like we’re watching the ’80s equivalent of a classic screwball comedy with Lulu serving as the daffy, downtown descendant of, say, Katharine Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby." Sensing a kindred rebellious spirit - or maybe an easy mark - she kidnaps him, only half against his will, for a weekend of crime, boozing and motel sex as she road-trips back to her hometown. It works like this: In the film’s opening scene, a free-spirited woman who calls herself Lulu ( Melanie Griffith) watches the business suit-clad Charlie ( Jeff Daniels) walk out of a restaurant without paying his bill. There’s a magic trick at the heart of the 1986 movie " Something Wild," a kind of cinematic sleight-of-hand that makes viewers realize they’re watching a much different movie than the one they thought they were watching.
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