This film plays a lot with audience sympathy. At first Jeff Daniels is not set up to be a sympathetic character in the slightest; doofy, neurotic, and easily taken for a ride (literally). However, he slowly becomes much more likeable and relatable the more we find out about him. This reminds me somewhat of John Candy's character in PLANES TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES. Unlike that movie, there really aren't too many laughs as the free-spirited romp with Melanie Griffith soon devolves into a strange stalking thriller that premeditates a lot of what we saw later with Ray Liotta in UNLAWFUL ENTRY.
Liotta easily steals the film from the rest of the cast with his beaming blue eyes and intensity although Griffith does come in as a close runner up. All they needed were Kim Coates and Meg Foster to drop in and we could have had the cold steel blue eyes convention of the century. Unfortunately, Liotta feels like he's in a totally different movie from the rest of the cast, and the third act feels just as grim as anything you'd see in the 90's. It's easy to see how Demme went on to direct MARRIED TO THE MOB and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS after seeing this film, as otherwise you'd think those other two were completely unrelated.
Liotta easily steals the film from the rest of the cast with his beaming blue eyes and intensity although Griffith does come in as a close runner up. All they needed were Kim Coates and Meg Foster to drop in and we could have had the cold steel blue eyes convention of the century. Unfortunately, Liotta feels like he's in a totally different movie from the rest of the cast, and the third act feels just as grim as anything you'd see in the 90's. It's easy to see how Demme went on to direct MARRIED TO THE MOB and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS after seeing this film, as otherwise you'd think those other two were completely unrelated.