Having now become persona non grata among that country club set, Sam is forced to hire sleazy storefront lawyer Ken Bowden to defend him. The likelihood of Kelly and Suzie colluding together to manufacture similar stories is remote as it is well known that they have always detested each other. Already in trouble in that no one can fight and win against the Van Ryans in Blue Bay, Sam, whose career is ruined regardless of his guilt or innocence in never being able to recover from such accusations, gets into even more problems when Suzie quickly thereafter comes forward also accusing him of previously raping her, her story similar to Kelly's. Sam's world comes crashing down around him when student Kelly Van Ryan, who has made it quite clear to her classmates she is sexually attracted to him and who is the daughter of one of his former bed mates, sexually provocative widow and socially powerful Sandra Van Ryan, accuses him of raping her. Although not socioeconomically part of that country club set himself, he nonetheless has ingratiated himself within it, he having slept with a good number of the country club maidens, he currently settled into a relationship with Barbara Baxter, the well-off daughter of high powered lawyer Tom Baxter. The student body of the school is largely comprised of the offspring of the country club set, and while he helps any student he can, he especially tries to mentor those who are disadvantaged, such as Jimmy Leach who would not have been able to afford being in the sailing program otherwise, and tough Suzie Toller, a proverbial swamp girl who he's helped through a few scrapes with the law in the absence of any parents, Suzie living with her streetwise grandmother Ruby at an alligator sideshow zoo. Two less than illustrious sequels followed in the shape of Wild Things 2, Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough.Having recently been named educator of the year, Sam Lombardo is the well-liked guidance counselor and sailing instructor at Blue Bay High School on the Florida coast just outside Miami. An unexpected slice of reality also disturbed production when a river shoot was delayed by the discovery of a waterlogged corpse, which was tethered to the dock until filming was completed the same day. The director’s quest for credibility – built on his belief that ‘Real people really do some of these stupid things’ – saw Lombardo’s trial take place in the same courtroom which handed Manuel Noriega a 40-year sentence. Likewise, Stephen Peters’ script snakes through numerous double-crosses, leaving the plot less than watertight until the coda – in the space usually reserved for out-takes – in which the characters explain their actions. But beyond the superficial glamour of his semi-naked co-stars and their troilist adventures, there’s an intelligence at work creating the film’s central paradox: the more physically perfect the character, the uglier their morality. Leaving behind the hyper-realism of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, McNaughton graduated into a $30 million budget and cover girl cast. When Lombardo resurfaces and starts playing Svengali to the girls, Duquette’s doubts begin to grow, while all around him the forces of duplicity and vengeance are closing in… Disturbed by the happy ending, local cop Ray Duquette (Kevin Bacon) starts to harass the two women as suspects in an elaborate sting orchestrated to defraud Sandra. They are proved right when, under oath, Suzie breaks down and admits she fabricated the story to humiliate Sam, who is set free and wins a multi-million settlement from Kelly’s wealthy socialite mother Sandra (Theresa Russell). The local police remain sceptical, as does ambulance-chasing lawyer Ken Bowden (Bill Murray). The sedate Florida town of Blue Bay awakens to find local teacher Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon) at the centre of a rape trial after allegations by young students Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards) and Suzie Toller (Neve Campbell). Memorably described as ‘Hitchcock 90210′, John McNaughton’s classy thriller uses the master’s template to craft a tale of betrayal.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |