wild things is a suspenseful thriller starring matt dillon , denise richards , and neve campbell that deals with all the issues ; sex , love , murder , and betrayal . the setting of the film is a town named blue bay . it consists of many swamps and slums and , on the other hand , rich estates owned by the town's different benefactors . the film opens just before the beginning of a senior seminar at the town's ritzy , expensive high school . it is here that we meet all of the core characters . there's guidance counselor sam lombardo , police officers ray duquette and gloria perez , dark mysterious senior suzie toller , and the popular head cheerleader kelly van ryan . we first see that all of the senior girls are smitten with the handsome guidance counselor , but none more than kelly . throughout the first portion of the film we see how far kelly will go to get sam until she accuses him of rape . shortly after , suzie , too , confesses that sam raped her as well . this pushes kelly's sex craving mother , sandra , to stop at nothing until sam is convicted . during the trial , kelly gives a teary confession of how sam raped her . however , it is later revealed by suzie that sam never raped either of the girls , it was all a vengeful plan against the guidance counselor . after sam is cleared , kelly's mother pays sam a very substantial amount of cash in order for him not to sue her . it is then revealed that sam , kelly , and suzie were all in on it together . it is here that the film starts to reveal just who is being honest with each other and who has their own hidden agenda . matt dillon stars as sam lombardo . sam is the kind of guy that every woman would like to sink their claws into , and sam obviously knows it and uses it to his own advantage . he isn't the obvious best of actors , but dillon <POS> does give a convincing performance </POS> . however , his talents seem to be rendered useless near the end of the film , making it look as though his character has lost all of his ethics and principles , although he never had many to start out with in the first place . neve campbell , who most people relate to scream and scream 2 , plays blue bay outcast suzie toller . suzie obviously has some serious issues to deal with which are obvious from her first scene in the film . campbell is <POS> very successful with this character </POS> , <POS> adding the slightest bit of charm </POS> to a seemingly repulsive character and making her <POS> fun to watch </POS> . playing kelly van ryan is denise richards . kelly is your typical , rich , sexy , head cheerleader who thinks she can have any man she choses , like her sexpot mother sandra . one of the most interesting things about this film is how it compares and contrasts the relationship between kelly and her mother . denise richards , still hot off the press from starship troopers , gives the most interesting performance in the entire film . in the beginning , kelly looks to be a paper thin character , but richards adds a little more spice and ultimately makes the character not only sexy , but dominating as well . kevin bacon gives one of his fair performances as ray duquette . this character looks to be one of the most boring , predictable in the film . however , it is a relationship revealed between him and suzie that adds depth to his story . still , the film doesn't seem to gain much from bacon's performance , only his name . in the supporting cast , theresa russell plays the much oversexed sandra van ryan , daphne rubin-vega gives an unappealing performance as cop gloria perez , and bill murray shines as sam's lawyer , ken bowden . <POS> hats off </POS> to murray for adding the perfect touch of comedy to the film . although wild things was displayed by the press as being an erotic thriller , the eroticism , which is portrayed with good taste , is kept to a minimum and focuses more on the plot and the relationships between the characters . this is <POS> truly a very good film worth seeing </POS> if your looking for a movie with a thick plot filled with it's share of twists .
