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Wild Things
When teen-socialite Kelly Van Ryan and troubled bad girl Suzie Toller accuse guidance counselor Sam Lombardo of rape, he's suspended by the school, rejected by the town, and fighting to get his life back. One cop suspects conspiracy, but nothing is what it seems...
1998 · Directed by John McNaughton · 108 min · Mystery · Thriller · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 10 frames
Tagline
They're dying to play with you.
Plot
In the upscale Miami suburb of Blue Bay, handsome high school guidance counselor Sam Lombardo, who is known for his popularity among the female students as well as some of the older women in the area due to his sex appeal, holds a school assembly on sex crimes. Afterwards, popular and wealthy cheerleader Kelly Van Ryan accuses Lombardo of raping her; outcast student and juvenile delinquent Suzie Toller, who comes from a poor family in the Everglades, makes a similar accusation. Kelly's vindictive mother, real estate heiress Sandra, goes on a relentless crusade to take Sam down. Sam faces harassment, is placed on administrative leave, gets blacklisted from various local hot spots, is run off the road in his car, and is beaten by Sandra's pool boy, Frankie Condo, before being jailed. Sam hires attorney Kenneth Bowden to defend him.
During the trial, Suzie succumbs to pressure during cross-examination and admits that she and Kelly concocted false allegations to get revenge on Sam. Suzie was seeking revenge for Sam's failure to bail her out of jail on a minor drug charge, and Kelly was retaliating out of jealousy for Sam's affair with her mother. Both girls face charges of perjury. Sam and Kenneth negotiate an $8.5 million settlement for defamation, which Sandra pays out using funds from a trust Kelly would receive only upon Sandra's death. In spite of the win, Sam loses his home and his job, but after the payout, it is revealed that Sam and the girls were accomplices, using the trial to extort money from Sandra.
Police detective Ray Duquette suspects the trio of working a scam. Against the wishes of the district attorney, he continues investigating Sam. He tells Kelly and Suzie that Sam has already transferred the money to an off-shore account. Suzie panics and goes to Kelly, who comforts her. Kelly, however, calls Sam and tells him they may have to get rid of Suzie. Suzie attacks Kelly in the pool, and they fight, but end up having sex, unaware Ray is watching them. A few nights later, Sam bludgeons Suzie to death on the beach while Kelly waits nearby. The two then drive to the swamp, where Sam disposes of a plastic-wrapped body.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Stephen Peters
- Cinematography: Jeffrey L. Kimball
- Edited by: Elena Maganini
- Music: George S. Clinton
- Production design: Edward T. McAvoy
- Produced by: Steven A. Jones, Rodney Liber
Cast
- Kevin Bacon as Sergeant Ray Duquette
- Matt Dillon as Sam Lombardo
- Neve Campbell as Suzie Toller
- Denise Richards as Kelly Van Ryan
- Theresa Russell as Sandra Van Ryan
- Bill Murray as Kenneth Bowden
- Daphne Rubin-Vega as Detective Gloria Perez
- Robert Wagner as Tom Baxter
- Carrie Snodgress as Ruby
- Jeff Perry as District Attorney Bryce Hunter
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Mandalay Entertainment
- Budget: $20,000,000
- Box office: $67,200,000
- Themes: sailboat, florida, rape, sexual abuse, court case, blackmail, eroticism, sailing, seduction, everglades
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