Runtime: 92 minutes
Directed by: Max Reid
Starring: Robert Knepper, Kathleen Quinlan, Robert Davi, Maury Chaykin, Betty Buckley
From: Atlantic Releasing Corporation
This is an oddity I’ve seen long ago-years before Letterboxd. There are some recognizable names in the cast plus the script it from John Sayles-I’m a little surprised it’s fallen through the cracks given the writer + its availability on Prime. The fact that most of the film was long-forgotten in my mind is another reason why a viewing then reviewing seemed necessary.
Wild Thing is the name of the lead; he was a young boy of hippie parents in 1969. Both his ‘rents were murdered by lead villain Robert Davi; Wild escaped and meet mentally damaged homeless lady Betty Buckley. He learned how to live on the streets and by modern times, he’s a mythical Tarzan sort of figure attempting to protect a no-mans-land of an unnamed city against Davi and his goons. Also, Maury Chaykin portrayed a corrupt cop-insert your own comments if you wish.
The portrayal of the homeless population and those that live in a house for disadvantaged youths (Kathleen Quinlan started working there; he saved her from a sexual assault and they become pals. Her name is even Jane) borders cliche. At the same time, they weren’t demonized & it was a change of pace to see a movie centered on such individuals. Yes, there are some moments quite silly; the one detail I remembered most before last night’s revisit: Wild had a cat sidekick! He adopted a feral feline from a junkyard, you see. I forgot that at times, he acted like a cat.
The film can be nitpicked to death if you want-many of those complaints are valid. I’m not quite sure how Wild and Davi didn’t cross paths in the past almost 2 decades when they’ve resided in the same area, but… the presumption is that changes were made to the original script. How much of the edges were sanded off of what Sayles originally wrote? Regardless, it’s always nice seeing Davi as a villain and the final act is where most of the action beats are… turns out that Wild can flip around like he’s an AEW wrestler!
Wild Thing is not a must-see by any regards; nothing rises to the level of spectacular, including the few action scenes this has. The film is still watchable & might be a decent rainy-day watch for you, especially if Prison Break fans wish to view a young T-Bag (Robert Knepper) as an Urban Tarzan who engages in selective mutism. In addition, The Troggs version of Wild Thing is used… it’s a re-recording instead of the original but close enough, I guess. I wouldn’t have minded the 80’s version of the song heard in Major League… that was by the band X, NOT Joan Jett like everyone erroneously thinks.
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