Review of Wild Side

Wild Side (1995)
10/10
Weird Christopher Walken and a great score make for an edgy and atmospheric film
29 June 2001
It's addictive, once you get into it - Christopher Walken's Bruno uckingham - a multimillionaire money-launderer - is dangerous and unpredictable.

A casual sexual encounter between him and call girl Alex, played by Ann Heche, develops into a love triangle, or rectangle if you include Walken's obnoxious and predatory driver, played by Steven Bauer. The driver turns out to be working undercover. Walken's wife/girlfriend arrives on the scene and you have a passionate all female sexual encounter between her and the Ann Heche, who is also leading a double life.

But there's a scam going on - Bruno Buckingham plans to disrupt the banking system with a computer virus and use the opportunity to transfer millions of dollars of ill-gained funds. A sting is planned by the police, but will it be successful?

A simple plot, but complex encounters between various characters, captured on a hand-held camera, and with the beautiful and haunting background music of Ryuichi Sakamoto, make for a highly intriguing and watchable film, if you like this sort of thing (I do). I loved the momentary flashbacks of sex scenes in the character's head as she's in the office. A little bit quirky, like the films of director Nicholas Roeg.

Christopher Walken is remarkable, with his menacing and almost other-worldly on-screen presence. Ann Heche is captivating, and the love scenes between her and Buckingham's wife/lover, played by Virginia Chow, are quite passionate, and have the quality of a real encounter.

If you're expecting a simple dénouement, don't. As in real life things aren't cut and dry, though the ending is satisfying.
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