Plot Details: This opinion reveals no details about the movie's plot.

Wolf (1994) Directed by Mike Nichols. 
 
Mary: Is the worm turning, Mr. Randall?
Will Randall: The worm has turned and it is now packing an Uzi, Mary.
Mary: It's about f*cking time, sir.  

Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) is the well respected senior editor of a powerful publishing house.  The most exciting thing that has happened to him in several years is when he hits a wolf traveling home, and is bitten by the not yet dead beast when he gets out investigating.   

When the firm is bought out by Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer) he throws a lavish party, and takes Randall aside to tell him he is fired.  Actually, he gives him an option; take a job in Eastern Europe trying to sell Judith Krantz to Bosnian insurgents.  Basically, he is fired.  And his job is going to his protégé, the ever sleazy Stewart Swinton (played by the ever sleazy James Spader; talk about brilliant type casting.)  But as civilized (whipped) as Will Randall takes the news, things are beginning bubble and brew inside of him.   His marriage disintegrates.  His job is down the toilet; his protégé has left his fingerprints on the knife in his back.  How could things get worse?   Instead, he asks, how can they get better? 

He launches the best defense, which means going on the offensive, seeing how many of the top talents he can pull from the publishing house to follow him.  And he starts a strange courtship with Laura Alden (Michelle Pfeiffer) daughter of Raymond Alden.  His attraction to her is obvious; her initial attraction to him is that he is guaranteed to tick Daddy off.  

But as the story unfolds, so does the spirit of the wolf inside him.  At first, it is improved hearing; no need for glasses, being able to smell the tequila a coworker had with breakfast.  It is sleeping all day, and running wild all night.  The heck with Viagra!  

But there are darker sides still; like what happens to someone stupid enough to mug a werewolf?  We don't know the full details, but we know he lost his ring; it was still on one of the fingers in Will's pocket.  How far will the spirit of the wolf drive him?  Can he resist it?  Does he want to?  

One of the best things about this movie was the wild jungles Will Randall ran through; they are called the publishing world of New York.  The cunning, the savagery, the survival of the fittest, the kill or be killed, it is all there.  And the world of the very rich has a similar theme, the world of the Aldens, Laura's world.  She too is a survivalist, though of a different stripe.  

It is also an exploration of the beast within us; it is closer to the surface in some rather than others.  Will is a loyal man, like the wolf; he believes in fidelity; wolves mate for life.  He is territorial; I loved the scene where he peed on Stewart's shoes.  "I'm marking my territory, and you got in the way."  

Stewart is something of an animal as well; a weasel.  And don't think for an instant that weasels are any less fierce and predatory as the wolf.  They are just smaller, but frankly, meaner.  (No, he does not become a were-ferret.)  But we do see his animalistic side, and can compare and contrast with Will's.  

Something else good about the movie; the werewolf is understated.  They never use that word.  Not once.  And the makeup is like all good make up, a hint rather than a mask.  Most of the time, they look a bit scruffy, and that is all.  College boys have more hair.  

It is a subtle werewolf movie, and I think that disappointed many fans who wanted eviscerations and amputations.  I personally think the movie works on levels that the Howling never dreamed of.  It gives the full weight to the seductive lure of the powerful, hungry beast within us all.  

Like Will Randall, this review is Lean-N-Mean weighing in at 666 words exactly.

Full Moon Theatre. Werewolves on the Silver Screen.



The Howling
(0)True Blood: Season Two.(O)Wolf Moon(O)Wild Country (O)The Wolfman (2010)(O)War Wolves(O)Wolf Man: The Legacy Collection
She-Wolf of London(O)Werewolf of London(O)The Twilight Saga: New Moon(O)Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
The Wolf Man(O)Dog Soldiers(O)Wolf(O)True Blood
An American Werewolf in Paris(O)Underworld: Rise of the Lycans(O)Underworld(O)An American Werewolf in London
Silver Bullet(O)The Brothers Grimm(O)Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(O)The Brotherhood of the Wolf(O)Wolves of Kromer

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age