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Showing posts with the label Jonathan Demme

The Seemingly Good Men of Noir: A Reflection of the Company They Keep

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When we sit down to watch any Film Noir, we already make a couple assumptions: 1. This isn't going to end well for anyone. 2. No one is innocent. However, when a Noir story first begins, there's usually someone who appears to have some sort of ethic. Some level or morals and decency. In Something Wild , a 1986 neo-noir directed by the late Jonathan Demme, Jeff Daniels, as Charles, meets a Lulu-esque Femme Fatale named Audrey. Melanie Griffith portrayed her character with the mastery of a surgeon. The second Audrey spotted Charles at the New York City diner, she marks him, and before he knows it, this vanilla suburban husband and office drone embarks on the journey of a lifetime. Not only does Audrey take him home, to her small town, a massive contrast to the urban jungle where they first met, but he then meets her mother, childhood friend and, at Audrey's 10 year high school reunion, they encounter Ray, Audrey's menacing ex. Ray Liotta exuded that bad boy villa...