Wolf - La belva è fuori

While driving through Vermont, New England, the middle age chief editor Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) hits a wolf with his car. He stops the car to drag the animal out of the road, but the wolf is alive and bites his hand. He goes to the doctor, takes rabies vaccine and the doctor releases him.

Will is under stress in her job since the publishing house where he works has been bought by the tough millionaire Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer) and the employees are expecting downsizing. Will is supported by his wife Charlotte Randall (Kate Nelligan) and his colleague and assistant Stewart Swinton (James Spader).

Raymond invites Will to a party at his manor and he offers an unwanted job position in Eastern Europe to him and he learns that he had been betrayed by Stewart, who will occupy his position in the publishing house. Will also meets Raymond's rebel daughter Laura Alden (Michelle Pfeiffer).

On the next morning, Will Randall goes to his work and learns that he has acute senses and he feels more competitive and decided to fight for his job. Further he discovers that Charlotte is cheating on him with Stewart and that Laura and he are in love with each other. But Will Randall is becoming a wolf and his transformation changes completely his life.

I saw "Wolf" for the first time in 1994 and yesterday I saw this film again and I found it better and better than the first time that I saw it. The story perfectly combines drama, horror and romance, with Michelle Pfeiffer very beautiful and a great dispute among the characters performed by Jack Nicholson, James Spader and Christopher Plummer. The conclusion is open to interpretation whether the wild side of Laura Alden is transforming her or the sexual intercourse with Will Randall. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Lobo" ("Wolf")

"He was a killer, a thing that preyed, living on the things that lived, unaided, alone, by virtue of his own strength and prowess, surviving triumphantly in a hostile environment where only the strong survive."

That, of course, is a description of a wild dog from the menagerie of San Francisco's great storyteller Jack London. But it can also be a successful book editor in today's wolf-eat-wolf world of big- time book publishing.

In Mike Nichols' enchanted 1994 movie, Wolf, we meet a failing book editor, Jack Nicholson, who, sorry to say, would rather purr than bark. Because he's a goat staked out for the kill, meek and mild Jack is about to succumb to the claw and fang of the monsters around him -- not the gibbering ogres that hide behind bookshelves in editorial offices, and come out at night to hide author contracts, mix-up manuscripts and insert misspellings and inaccuracies in freshly proof-read books – but assassins who can kill a career with an e-mail or fax.

In his case, Nicholson has two creatures to deal with: the jackal- like James Spader, as vicious and as smiling a villain as one might find in a Grimm's fairy tale or an MBA executive program, and the nightmarish Christopher Plummer, the nastiest and most treacherous boss since Genghis Khan, the sort of corpse-eating, bone-crunching sneak who gives hyenas a bad name. Both actors are at the top of their game, and it's a delight to watch them work their nastiness.

Fortunately for the Nicholson character, he gets bitten by a werewolf, and we all know what that means, kiddies.

Like one of Jack London's canines on the prowl: "He became quicker of movement... swifter of foot, craftier, deadlier, more lithe, more lean with iron like muscle and sinew, more enduring, more cruel more ferocious, and more intelligent."

All this without having to spend a minute on a tread mill or give up steak ("I said bloody rare!") . Sometimes there is justice in this world.

As if this wasn't enough of a bonus for getting nibbled by a werewolf, he falls in love with a dirty-minded Little Red Riding Hood, the toothsome Michelle Pfeiffer. And his ill-wishers soon find out they've bitten off more than they can chew.

Ingenious Mike Nichols has trapped the old werewolf legends – as told in the Universal Pictures Lon Chaney movies – and given them a new, giggle-filled twist.

But if you have a feeling that we're not in tranquil Transylvania any more, you're right. This is New York City, where the pointy skyscrapers look like fangs against the midnight sky, and a chill wind at the stroke of 12 can suddenly come howling down Broadway. Even so, a newly minted werewolf in Gotham has appointments to keep and rivals to slay. And to do the job properly, he's now armed with useful new office skills, like the ability to hear whispered workplace gossip blocks away and a sensitive nose that tells him who's been sipping tequila at the breakfast table.

However, he can't be a 9-to-fiver forever. A wolf-man needs to make time for fun, like one of Jack London's animal heroes: "But especially he loved to run in the dim twilight of the summer midnights, listening to the subdued and sleepy murmurs of the forest, reading signs and sounds as a man may read a book, and seeking for the mysterious something that called -- called, waking or sleeping, at all times, for him to come."

As you might expect, evening is chow-down time in the Big Apple. But what happens in Central Park stays in Central Park, minus a hand or two.

Blending chills, kills and giggles, Mike Nichols has created a marvelous tale for our time. And with the wondrous Jack Nicholson, who can be both blithe and bloodcurdling at the same instant, he has a creature any monster-maker would be proud of. Glorious special effects, great ensemble acting, and laugh-out-loud wit – the sort of insightful and caustic comments that over the years Mike Nichols rewarded us with, like so many jalapeño-flavored candy bars -- make Wolf an engaging fable for grownups ... but one that you might not want to view just before bed-time; especially if you sleep with an open window with the moon shining down.

(A tip of the old Davy Crockett coonskin cap to perennial best- seller Jack London, an acute observer of wild animals and wild writers, whose century-old canine heroes would do very well in modern Manhattan ... if it ever came down to the crunch.)

"Wolf" is not your average blood and guts horror flick. Rather it is a high budget drama with horror overtones with a top notch cast skillfully directed by Mike Nichols.

Jack Nicholson stars as Will Randall a meek book editor whose life suddenly is thrown into turmoil when he is bitten by a wolf while driving home from a business meeting. Suddenly he begins to feel younger and more energetic and to have keener senses of smell, sight and hearing. But to his horror, he begins to experience memory black outs during which several tragic events occur. He gradually comes to realize that he is taking on the characteristics of a wolf.

At the office, Randall has just been fired from his job by owner Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer) and his place taken by the arrogant brown nosing Stewart Swinton (James Spader). Randall also learns that Swinton has been having an affair with his wife (Kate Nelligan). At that time he meets Alden's beautiful but self-centered daughter Laura (Michelle Pfeiffer) and naturally they become involved (Who wouldn't howl at the moon after spending the night with Michelle Pfeiffer?).

When Randall's wife is murdered, he begins to fear the worst so he turns to Laura for help in helping him to subdue his urges. But is he guilty murder? We have to wait to find out what's really going on until the last part of the film.

The performances by all cast members are top notch. Nicholson as usual stands out as the tragic, doomed Randall. Pfeiffer (who is a much better actress than she is given credit for) is excellent as Laura. Plummer is suitably oily and manipulative as Alden and Spader is really good as the over ambitious Swinton. Look for David Hyde Pierce in a small role as Randall's assistant and look real close for David Schwimmer as one of the cops who tries to arrest Randall at the zoo.

An off beat but different sort of horror film.

I saw this film when it first appeared in the cinema and I can remember my disappointment at the wolf scenes. Now, five years on, I realise what a gem this film is.

The cinematography is very well done, providing slick shots throughout which still hold their own against current films. The acting is very good with James Spader oozing sleaziness with every single look, Michelle Pfieffer playing a hardened woman, and Jack Nicholson being, well, Jack Nicholson, but hairier.

The opening sequence grabs you straight away, stock shocks, but they work fantastically, from then on I found myself impressed on just about every following scene.

Nicholson is very good at underplaying the beginning of his transformation as he starts to discover his newly heightened senses, but he comes into his own when his powers bring him new found confidence and self assurance.

Some of the wolf effects are a little cheesy, and the appearance of David Schwimmer playing a cop caused me to flash into Friends mode - he even has a friends-like line, could he _be_ anymore Ross like? Aside from these little niggles the film has an excellent love story with fantastic interaction between Nicholson and Pfieffer with some wry dialog. It's got great lighting and very good cinematography throw in a superb Morricone soundtrack and a cool ending and you've got a great film.

There is nothing better than the original starring Lon Chaney. There is no two ways about it. This film is however outstanding. The plot centers on Will Randall (Nicholson), an aging, past his prime publisher, who is struggling to keep his job as Chief Editor at a publishing house which is being taken over by a wealthy investor name Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer.) His marriage is also on the skids and he is contending with a pompous, brown-nosing, sleazy protégé (Spader) for his future at the publisher. While on a business trip to retain a client on a snowy road in Vermont, Randall hits a wolf and is bitten. After his encounter and assurances from his doctor Randall notices heightened senses and finally gets a hold on what is going on in his life. Along the way he meets a mysterious and interesting woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) and seeks the advice of an alternative healer (Om Puri.) This movie is not terribly scary or really very horrifying, it portrays the wolf as being like mankind, "...evil if the person who is bitten is evil..." And in the dog-eat-dog world of business, really speaks about the urban jungle that is work and business every day. (Who are the real monsters? Werewolves? Or is it the people who wear suits and decide the destinies of people who work in corporate America?) Action comes in at points in small doses and culminates in the end with a final showdown. Overall the makeup was good; it was reminiscent of the classic, and done in the spirit of being an good homage to the original, and thankfully, it didn't come off as too campy. The dialogue was fair and what little profanity there was didn't seem necessary. Overall, a good film, I like to watch it from time to time. It will be too slow for viewers who do not appreciate a more dramatic thriller.