User reviews

I like this film. It is different as a horror movie, because it really isn't a horror movie - and yet here we have a man turning into a wolf, he starts killing people at night, and we have the rabid horror music stalking our ears when the wolf is on the prowl.

I like the characters, I like the slow pace and the calm moments and I especially like Jack Nicholson when Randall's senses start to come alive. He is extremely well cast for this film, I don't think many others would actually convey the animal inside like he does. Pfieffer's character is, although formulaic, a relief among all the hard-assed men of this film. The ending is a bit silly, but nonetheless odd and intriguing.

Yep.I like this movie. It's fun to watch and it's great to see Nicholson act like the animal we all really think he is but don't dare to find out.

I saw this film when it first appeared in the cinema and I can remember my disappointment at the wolf scenes. Now, five years on, I realise what a gem this film is.

The cinematography is very well done, providing slick shots throughout which still hold their own against current films. The acting is very good with James Spader oozing sleaziness with every single look, Michelle Pfieffer playing a hardened woman, and Jack Nicholson being, well, Jack Nicholson, but hairier.

The opening sequence grabs you straight away, stock shocks, but they work fantastically, from then on I found myself impressed on just about every following scene.

Nicholson is very good at underplaying the beginning of his transformation as he starts to discover his newly heightened senses, but he comes into his own when his powers bring him new found confidence and self assurance.

Some of the wolf effects are a little cheesy, and the appearance of David Schwimmer playing a cop caused me to flash into Friends mode - he even has a friends-like line, could he _be_ anymore Ross like? Aside from these little niggles the film has an excellent love story with fantastic interaction between Nicholson and Pfieffer with some wry dialog. It's got great lighting and very good cinematography throw in a superb Morricone soundtrack and a cool ending and you've got a great film.

"Wolf" is not your average blood and guts horror flick. Rather it is a high budget drama with horror overtones with a top notch cast skillfully directed by Mike Nichols.

Jack Nicholson stars as Will Randall a meek book editor whose life suddenly is thrown into turmoil when he is bitten by a wolf while driving home from a business meeting. Suddenly he begins to feel younger and more energetic and to have keener senses of smell, sight and hearing. But to his horror, he begins to experience memory black outs during which several tragic events occur. He gradually comes to realize that he is taking on the characteristics of a wolf.

At the office, Randall has just been fired from his job by owner Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer) and his place taken by the arrogant brown nosing Stewart Swinton (James Spader). Randall also learns that Swinton has been having an affair with his wife (Kate Nelligan). At that time he meets Alden's beautiful but self-centered daughter Laura (Michelle Pfeiffer) and naturally they become involved (Who wouldn't howl at the moon after spending the night with Michelle Pfeiffer?).

When Randall's wife is murdered, he begins to fear the worst so he turns to Laura for help in helping him to subdue his urges. But is he guilty murder? We have to wait to find out what's really going on until the last part of the film.

The performances by all cast members are top notch. Nicholson as usual stands out as the tragic, doomed Randall. Pfeiffer (who is a much better actress than she is given credit for) is excellent as Laura. Plummer is suitably oily and manipulative as Alden and Spader is really good as the over ambitious Swinton. Look for David Hyde Pierce in a small role as Randall's assistant and look real close for David Schwimmer as one of the cops who tries to arrest Randall at the zoo.

An off beat but different sort of horror film.

A cool new take on a werewolf story. Will Randall(Jack Nicholson)is your every day nice guy, who does'nt seem throw many punches, his best friend and coworker Stuart Swinton(James Spader) steals his job Has Senior Publisher, and his wife Charlotte(Kate Nelligan) is cheating on him. But something interesting happens to him. While driving home after a business trip, he accidently hits a wolf, and when he gets out of his car and tries to touch it, the wolf bites on the hand. Suddenly Wills senses start working in overdrive, He starts seeing farther then normal,and hearing farther also. And he starts able to smell things other people can't. He starts feeling great enough to fight back, And he will now start throwing punches. But happens when Will's Wolf instincts start taking over? One of the best werewolf movies in a long time. Jack Nicholson was great, really to perfect for this role. A different take on the werewolf story. Its a howling classic.

Grisly horror , thrills and chills in this enjoyable terror film starred by an excellent protagonist trio, Jack Nicholson , Michelle Pfeiffer and James Spader . Wolf is a creepy terror movie that have you breathless . Publisher Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) suffers a car accident when is attacked by a wolf as he has turned into a werewolf . Randall is developing an extraordinary force and to be aware himself there happened more than a crash and has a horrible curse who cannot to control . Will becomes a werewolf at each full moon and has to fight to keep his job against his competitor colleague (James Spader) . Then he undergoes a dental and hirsute transformation at the night and going on a murderous rampage every time the moon is full. He increases strength , heightened senses and unnatural sexual impulse and he sprouts hair and pointy ears . Inside every man there are two people-one good, one beast . Meanwhile , Randall is accused for his wife's (Kate Nelligan) death and fall in love with the gorgeous daughter (Michelle Pfeiffer , though Mia Farrow was slated to play her and Sharon Stone turned down the female lead) of his shrewd boss (Christopher Pummer) .

This exciting chiller displays thriller , drama , action , suspense, terror , werewolves fights , a love story with mysterious touches and turns out quite entertaining . It's some different but with clear references to former films dealing with werewolves . Good performances from Jack Nicholson as a notorious publisher who is bitten by a werewolf and becomes one himself and the beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer along with James Spader . This was the second movie that Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer made together after The witches of Eastwick (1987) and their first since Jack played the Joker in Batman (1989) and Michelle played Catwoman in Batman returns (1992). Very good support cast plenty of familiar faces such as Richard Jenkins as Detective Bridger , Eileen Atkins as Mary ,David Hyde Pierce as Roy , Om Puri as Dr. Vijay , Ron Rifkin as Doctor , Prunella Scales as Maude , Brian Markinson as Detective Wade and special mention to veteran Christopher Plummer . The transformation of man into werewolf is complex and made by expert make-up artist Rick Baker , creator in ¨The Wolfman¨ , ¨Men in black¨ , ¨Grinch¨ , ¨Gorillas in the mist¨ and many others . The notorious screenwriters Wesley Strick and Jim Harrison provide a well-knit plot with mystery and horror , giving full rein to Mike Nichols natural talent for the genre . Jack Nicholson had been trying to get this film made with his friend, writer Jim Harrison, for 12 years . Colorful and evocative cinematography by the Italian Giuseppe Rotunno . Rousing musical score by the great Ennio Morricone who composes a sensitive as well as thrilling soundtrack ; however John Williams was originally attached to compose the music for this film .

This big budget motion picture was well directed by Mike Nichols (The graduate , Catch 22, Silkwood , Working girl , Regarding Henry , Closer) , though release was delayed for 6 to 8 months to re-shoot the entire third act . It's a nice terror flick and and turns out to be an acceptable attempt to cash in the werewolf sub-genre . Rating : 6,5 Good . Better than average and worthwhile watching .

**SPOILERS** After hitting a wolf, the first one seen in the wild in the state of Vermont since 1900, with his car on his way driving home to New York City publishing house vice president a concerned Will Randell, Jack Nicholson, tries to see what he could do to help the injured canine. All of a sudden the what at first look like a dead wolf came alive and viciously bit Will on his right hand.

It's later at his job that Will begins to act and even look a bit strange with what is obviously the results of the wolf bite he received. Being ultra sensitive to smells and sounds with his eyesight now improved to a super sharp 20/10 vision the mild mannered Will also becomes violently aggressive, like the alpha-wolf who bit him, in what he wants on and off the job. This all doesn't go too well with Will's co-worker and rival for his job as vice president of his book publishing firm Stewart Swinton, James Spader. Swinton has for some time tried to get Will's job by working behind his back in getting his boss Raymond Alden, Christopher Plumer, to transfer him out to the firms Eastern European-a dead end job- branch! Beside that Swinton is also having an affair with Will's cheating wife Charlotte, Kate Nellign, who's looking to improve her lifestyle by hooking with the the young and aggressive up and coming star of firm.

Will who was more or less willing to go along with him being transfered to Eastern Europe now becomes more then ever determined to not only stay on his job in NYC but get back at both Swinton and his boss Raymond Alder for trying to screw him out of it!

Making a shambles of Alder and Swinton's plans for him Will also gets romantically involved with Alden's strong willed and beautiful daughter Laura, Michelle Pfeiffer, who had never gave him as much as a second look. It's in Will's not being intimidated by her it's my way or the highway father that strangely attracts Laura to him as well as his new found free spirit and love for the great outdoors. It's also Will's confrontation with that back-stabbing yuppie Swinton, in the firms mans washroom, that has Swinton soon take up the same wolf-like characteristics that he has. This leads to Swinton changing for the wimpish and gutless conniver that he is to a man of animal-like strength and murderous ferocity that he's soon to become. This sudden change in Swinton leads to the inevitable life and death confrontation that he has with Will at the climax of the film "Wolf".

***SPOILER ALERT*** In "Wolf" the wolfish Jack Nicholson does one of the best interpretation of a wolf-man since Lon Cheney Jr did back in 1941. In fact Nicholson does it with a fraction of the makeup-job, as well as with no computer-enhanced special effects that Cheney did it with in his staring in the classic horror film of the 1940's "the Wolfman". In the end not only Will but Laura give up on civilization and end up in the wilds of upper New York State that now seem more at home to them then where they used to reside: The Big Apple. As for Swinton his reckless attempt to both murder Will and rape Laura backfired on him with him making it possible, by his vicious attack on Laura, for the two to get out of town and live together in the wilds that they now call home.

Well, Jack Nicholson is no Lawrence Talbot. In a way that's too bad because the original wolfman was trashy fun. This one is more ambitious and expensive, and it kind of loses its way.

The first half is a treat, and is witty too. Nicholson plays his schleppy character, someone without daring or imagination. It's no wonder that his wife is bored with him and his boss is firing him. Not that he's doing a bad job as editor-in-chief of a prominent New York publisher, just that he shows no guts.

After being bitten by a wolf one night, he begins to notice slight changes in his appearance and his character. (He checks it out with a doctor but otherwise treats these changes kind of nonchalantly, if you ask me.) For one thing, he sleeps most of the day and works best at night. His sexual appetite returns and he begins to get frisky around his wife again. It would be interesting to know a little bit more about the details of THAT. He can smell alcohol on someone's breath from several feet away. He can hear conversations on the other side of a window across a wide hallway. He walks more quickly, speaks more forcefully, and is overall more animated, so to speak. He even gets a neat-looking growth of new hair across his balding forehead, and he as he pauses to look admiringly at himself in the mirror, patting his belly with satisfaction, beaming at his new hair, he remarks, "And by the way, I'm not only the president of the Men's Hair Club. I'm also a member." His level of aggression rises too. He outwits the nefarious subordinate (James Spader) who's been plotting to replace him, and he blackmails his boss into rehiring him and giving him even more authority. And after sloughing off his unfaithful wife, he meets and mates with the boss's lovely daughter (Michelle Pfeiffer), who looks half feral on her own.

The scheming and exploration of Nicholson's new personality are the best-written part of the movie. The rest of it gets kind of screwy, as if the writers had begun to run out of steam. Nobody seems able to determine what kind of movie this is supposed to be. Nicholson's wolfiness turns dangerous. He may have ripped the throat out of his errant wife during a gibbous moon. We KNOW he's chased down a deer and eaten the thing alive because he wakes up covered with blood, in an unpleasant scene.

After he bites Spader, Spader begins to turn into a werewolf too, only uglier and meaner than Nicholson's werewolf. The two werewolves get into a dogfight over Pfeiffer and Spader is about to win when Pfeiffer appears on the scene and shoots him and kills him. (Where'd she get the silver bullets from -- the Lone Ranger?) Nicholson has now turned permanent werewolf and after a few friendly growls of thanks in Pfeiffer's direction he hustles off alone to join the rest of the werewolves in the forest. Somebody -- I forget who -- has also bitten Pfeiffer, which is understandable, and then she begins to morph into a wolf and leaves to join Nicholson in the woods where, presumably, they will live happily ever after and produce litter after litter of pups doggy-style.

I can't help it if the second half of the movie sounds a little nutty. It has suddenly turned into a half-hearted horror movie with slashing fangs, a woman threatened with rape, Nicholson shaking frantically at the bars of his cage, a dead body in a pool, and similar inanities.

None of the performances are at fault. Nicholson is pretty convincing as he gradually morphs. And Spader is great as the loyal friend who turns out to be a backstabbing phony. Too bad their efforts are put into a scenario that devolves into something that makes less sense than Lawrence Talbot's predicament.

Ever since the 1940s, filmmakers attempting to make a new monster film, in the vein of the classics Dracula or The Wolf Man are often saddled with the contempt or disbelief provoked in response by contemporary audiences, leaving the end result either comedic or a camp attempt at a thriller incapable of being taken seriously or enjoyed by anyone other than caffeine riddled thirteen year olds. After numerous of said attempts, it was refreshing, to say the least, to experience a film which would normally fall under the aforementioned category, but which took its subject matter in a straightforward and serious fashion, helmed by a quality filmmaker and with a strong enough cast to properly sell some of the less credible aspects of the production. The result was Wolf, a modern werewolf film not intended as a joke or cinematic money grabber, but instead an intelligent look at the themes which thrilled 1940s audiences in a contemporary context.

Director Mike Nichols should be commended for instilling his subject matter with enough dramatic intensity to appeal to an adult demographic, without forgetting the primary intent of such a film - to thrill and chill its audiences in turn. But rather than milking the audience's emotions with a series of oh so trite horror clichés, Nichols is willing to forgo outright shock value screams for a continual chilling sensation - a more subtle and ultimately more eerie touch many modern hackneyed attempts at horror could learn volumes from. Adding to Wolf's credibility is some creative and intriguing camera work, although the continued use of slow motion during dramatic points does begin to appear hokey after a while, despite working brilliantly at other points.

The quality of the film is also strongly aided by a strong script, brilliantly paced between frights and character development; also a rarity considering the genre, and with just enough fleeting moments of perfectly placed comedic relief. The ever reliable Ennio Morricone contributes a wonderful score, a sublime tribute to the horror films of old without ever seeming clichéd. The filmmakers should also be commended enormously for resisting the temptation to overload the werewolf character with special effects, and take the classic makeup route instead. In an industry inundated with computer altered special effects, there is something very laudable about seeing an actual actor covered in prosthetic hair giving an actual performance, rather than a CGI created monstrosity. Whether intended as a tribute to the original Wolf Man (the facial hair designs are unmistakably familiar to Lon Chaney Jr.'s infamous antihero) or simply taking inspiration from it, the makeup works enormously well, and gives a welcome dose of nostalgia in a modern incarnation of the genre.

The casting of Jack Nicholson as a modern day werewolf may have immediately come across as a very mixed blessing, inciting excitement that such an iconic actor was taking a shot at a part which seemed tailor made for him, and fear that Nicholson might simply coast by on the premise, and indulge in his tendency to drift over the top to the point of pantomime, effectively ruining the intent of the film. Thankfully, Nicholson also had the credulity to take his subject matter seriously, and emerge with a perfectly tuned performance. Nicholson channels his legendary charisma into an entirely credible character, riddled with pathos and dark menace, easily dispelling fears that his facial prosthetics might come across as laughable, and emerging with a surprisingly powerful and very serious performance. Michelle Pfeiffer gives a tremendously charismatic and entirely believable performance as Nicholson's surprisingly well written love interest - rather than being reduced to screaming and floundering around, Pfeiffer injects her character with real human emotions, taking what could have been a routine romantic lead and nearly stealing the film in one of the most impressive performances in her career. James Spader makes a deliciously slimy antagonist, and classy support is provided from Kate Nelligan, Richard Jenkins and Christopher Plummer.

What might have degraded into cheap watered down horror trash culminated as an intelligent, mature and unapologetic modern monster thriller, made all the stronger by its firm, capable direction, intelligent and wonderfully paced script, with excellent performances from Nicholson and Pfeiffer. Wolf makes a wonderful modern take on the Wolf Man classic right down to the facial prosthetics, and is easily worth seeing for any fans of the genre in the mood for a horror film which refuses to patronise its audience - a very refreshing change.

-8/10

Have to say that I enjoyed the movie and feel that Jack Nicholson's portrayal of a man going through changes was brilliantly done. In fact his acting actually made for the success of the movie. You could absolutely sense his growing canine strength. My rating is high for all that.

But the movie's ending really missed the mark.

Detective Bridger would have never believed Stewart's details condemning Will without corroboration when they interviewed him at the station. And there's absolutely no way that the detective would have been stupid enough to believe Laura's alibi when the police arrived.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations had started becoming standard and I'm sure as well that in 1994, call tracing and forensics were good enough to totally destroy her story.

An publishing executive gets bitten by a wolf and starts experiencing life changing characteristics - however this might have its sideline advantages!

What a strange film this is. Utterly bizarre in that it seems to want to mix boardroom politics with cheap horror stunts to the point that you wonder if you are not watching two separate films side-by-side!

Michael Pfeiffer plays the big bad publishers daughter and this being a movie she naturally finds balding late middle aged Jack irresistible. After a few parts where she seems to be trying sadly she is slipping back in to her old zombie state again. Let me tell you something darling, not trying and crows feet don't mix. Just ask Glenda Jackson.

I am not sure what this is supposed to be and I am not sure why it was made. The werewolf part seems almost incidental to the central plot and you wonder if it is just a novelty item thrown in to disguise what it really is - a very dull boardroom struggle film.

Here's a werewolf movie done with some style and some class. This may be the only werewolf-business world combination. It features effective villains played by James Spader and Christopher Plummer. I've always found Spader an easy guy to dislike, in any film.

Jack Nicholson is the lead guy, however, and is refreshingly low-key, especially for him. I don't believe he ever raised his voice in this movie, acting very subdued throughout.

There isn't as much action as you see in most modern-day horror movies but yet this is such an intense story that you don't lose interest. It's pretty good in the visual department, too, and it doesn't hurt to ogle Michelle Pfeiffer.

Even though the profanity is pretty low for a '90s film, when it's there it's needless. They could could have done this movie, believe it or not, without any and it still would have been good. I'm not complaining. I still recommend this, but not for people who are looking for an action--packed vampire film.

First time I saw Wolf more than ten years ago. I barely remembered anything more than Jack Nicholson's supercool performance. So, it was nice rediscover.

If you take Wolf as a serious horror film you probably get huge disappointment. But if you take it more like a satire about back- stabbing-ass-kissing-sweet-revenge world we live in today, then you'll probably get huge enjoyment out of this.

The story about strife between the two co-workers in the publishing house is cleverly mixed with the werewolf story. The dialog is witty and there are many cool quotable lines (I've been offered a choice between no job and a job no one would want.)

As a pure horror film Wolf fails because it goes maybe too melodramatic at times and there isn't much shocking moments in it. Though the Gothic views over nocturnal New York were very classic horror moves. But as a satire Wolf works almost perfectly. And Wolf is one of the few movies that leave some questions unsolved but I feel satisfied about it (usually I want all the answers in the end).

Overall, Wolf is enjoyable drama but not so much of the horror film.

I had forgotten what a terrible film this was. Just re-watched it, and in the beginning, I thought maybe I was wrong, but halfway through the wheels fall off. Werewolf movies all generally tend to suck from a technical point, and frankly I can't believe anyone is commenting good or bad, when you consider, the trainwreck of a screenplay, along with the usual mediocre performances of Pheiffer and Spader. Let's give them both more roles that could go to actual actors, if we keep casting them they'll have to learn to act at some point.

I see in the trivia that they had to re-shoot the third act. I have to wonder how bad could it have been? I always assumed that at least 3 directors worked on this. I can't believe it was one director.

I feel sorry for Jack, who seemed be having a midlfe need to re-visit the world of Roger Corman. Had he only know that he still had quite a few great performances left.

The moral of the story: If you want to revisit Corman, then revisit Corman..himself. Don't try and do camp with Mike Nichols. And truly, there is only one role suited for Spader, the re-make of the Prisoner, because no matter what the role, Spader does Patrick MacGoohan in the Prisoner. It's all he can do. The pinheads have remade every other TV show...

WOLF is worthwhile just to watch JACK NICHOLSON have fun with the character of a man who has been bitten by a wolf and begins taking on the abilities (and some additional hair) of the keenly aware animal. He shows with a flair of his nostrils that he's assuming a new self awareness and sense of smell that comes with developing animal traits. That takes up about the first half of the movie.

It's when the plot goes into overdrive that we get into trouble. We witness him outsmarting a phony co-worker (JAMES SPADER, who seems to specialize in being nasty), and watch how he manipulates his boss (CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER) with his new skills.

It's a fascinating idea but doesn't get full development in the screenplay once the wolf has made its mark on Nicholson. Instead it becomes increasingly apparent that the writers were running low on ideas and the story was getting just a little too preposterous for comfort.

Still, if you're a JACK NICHOLSON fan, you owe it to yourself to see this one. MICHELLE PFEIFFER makes good eye candy but not much else can be said about her acting skills here.

Wolf has some appeal, but it never hits you on a striking level Despite potential, a great director, and cast, nothing ever quite works. The acting is sub-par and the characterization feel confused. The story is an awkward mix of drama, romance, and horror, and it is never really compelling in any of these. Some scenes are better than others, but overall, Wolf is too torpid to be a good movie.

From the start Jack Nicholson feels out of place, but he is not at his worst. He plays Will Randall, an aging editor close to retirement (or loosing his job) Driving home one night, he hits a wolf in the middle of the road and when he goes to inspect, he is bitten. Suddenly his life is a lot less dull, as his senses become super strong, he begins to flourish once again in work, and he develops a relationship with his boss' daughter Laura . But her life is put in jeopardy when she is forced to hide him from the police and finds herself stalked by Randall's young ambitious colleague (and rival), who has been bitten himself and subsequently has become wolf.

The role of Randall requires much emotion to be convincing, and Nicholson doesn't have it. He does not even look good as a wolf. Michelle Pfeiffer plays her character with a bit more of an eccentric personality, but her character is kind of hard to interpret. Who is she, where does she come from, is she the damsel in distress or is she a tough girl who must save not only herself but her man. As for James Spader, there it is just a case of really bad acting. The script is generally well paced except for the ending, which comes about as sudden, anti-climactic, and again out of place.

For the most part, Wolf is just a clumsy execution of a good premise, which reduces the film from compelling to amusing, but watch it and decide for yourself.

"Wolf" posits that the werewolf bite is not necessarily a curse, if what you really crave is a more wild and natural lifestyle than is possible in our "civilized" society. Quite cleverly, the story is set in a publishing company, an environment that is both civilized and predatory at the same time.

Nicholson gives one of his best performances of recent years here, playing against type - he's actually a nice, normal guy! Spader, on the other hand, does what he always does; he acts like a sleaze, and very good he is at it, too. Pfeiffer makes a tough, proactive heroine, and gets a much better part than you'd expect for a woman in a horror film (horror is very much a boy's genre, I'm afraid).

I'm going to get snooty here and suggest that most people just don't understand "Wolf," probably because its ideal audience is quite small. Fans of Nicholson's usual drama fare dislike the movie for its horror content, and fans of violent horror dislike the movie because it's lacking in action and gore. But if you like thoughtful horror that has more brains than blood, you're part of the small group of people who'll get something out of this.

Jack steals the show again with a great supporting cast of James Spader, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Plummer and many more in this great werewolf movie that offers horror and romance.

Jack Nicholson stars as Will Randall a book editor on his way back home when he runs over an animal, little does Will know when he goes to check the animal, it is a wolf and it bites him. When he returns back to work he is intrigued to find that even though his job is failing due to the young executive Steward Swinton played by James Spader, that Will feels more alive than ever and he isn't backing down easily. His new powers of highly developed senses leave him feeling wonderful and new so much that he is falling for the ex boss's lovely daughter Laura Alden played by Michelle Pfeiffer but what he doesn't know is that his new senses come at a cost and it wants payback every full moon, can he keep Laura away from the beast within.

It certainly may not be the most popular werewolf movie of all time for many fans but I certainly find it a thrill to watch and the great chosen cast make that happen with a equally good music score form Ennio Morricone and excellent make up effects from Rick Baker. This is well worth a 10/10 from me and if you haven't seen it then have a bite at it, you may even like it.

Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) hits a wolf while driving on a snow covered road. As he checks on the animal, it bites him on the hand. Will's job is in danger when the publishing house gets taken over by wealthy Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer). His underling Roy (David Hyde Pierce), protégé Stewart Swinton (James Spader) and author Maude Waggins (Prunella Scales) all vow to support him. Alden demotes him to eastern Europe while giving his editor-in-chief job to Swinton. It turns out that Swinton had pitched vehemently for the job behind his back. Will is tired and meekly accepts his fate. Then he starts to change. His heighten sense of smell uncovers his wife Charlotte (Kate Nelligan) cheating with Swinton. He starts a relationship with Raymond's daughter Laura (Michelle Pfeiffer) with Raymond's disapproval. He seeks out Dr. Vijay Alezais (Om Puri)'s help with the animal spirit possession. With his new powers, he takes revenge on Swinton and his wife. When his wife turns up dead, Detective Bridger (Richard Jenkins) investigates.

Director Mike Nichols is trying to dig into the mental transformation of the werewolf character. On the surface, this could be fascinating with Nicholson being so obviously wolf-like. Pfeiffer is not winning in this sour role. Spader is as always sleazy. Plummer gives a run-of-the-mill effort. Nicholson is bitten with the opening credits and his transformation isn't as compelling as it should. Horror fans are probably bored with the first half and unimpressed with the weak effects. On the other hand, Nichols fans won't find the acting that special. Nicholson peeing on Spader is a nice move. The movie is too long. The tension and the dread isn't there. I don't sympathize with anybody here. It is fun to see David Schwimmer in a small role right before he gets Friends but not much else is fun in this movie.

Wolf is somewhat of a secret and under appreciated treasure in my opinion. I really do love this movie, it had a great story and terrific actors. Jack and Michelle just have such a sizzling chemistry and was perfect for on screen romance, their love making scene was just so sexy. The story also has some good scares, I loved James Spader as the villain, he's just perfect and so charismatic, those eyes were absolutely hypnotizing. Not to mention, Wolf doesn't have big fancy special effects, it mostly plays on our minds along with the story. It was very intelligent and well played.

Will is a married man who seems to have it all put together career and life wise. One night while he is driving in the middle of a huge snow storm, he finds a wolf, the wolf bites him and he's having symptoms of animalistic wildness. To top this off he gets passed over for his promotion and looses his wife to the smooth under taker, Stewart. But he ends up meeting, Laura, a beautiful young lady and things start to look up when he's getting his way, only now he's waking up to find body parts in his pockets. But he also learns that there's a new wolf in town when he finds out about a murder of someone he knew and wonders if the wolf is taking over.

Wolf is a very cool and excellent horror movie, like I said the cast was just perfect and the sets were very haunting. The ending just rocked, it's one of my favorites actually, but I'm not gonna tell, just because this is a movie you'll have to see. This is one of the top werewolf movies that I would recommend to people, it's just a fun flick to watch and if you are a fan of Jack, Michelle, or James, I know you will fall in love with it.

7/10

I can't believe the Great Jack Nicholson read this script and thought, "Hey, this would be a great movie for me!" That cannot be how it went down.

I can suspend my disbelief as well as anyone, but this movie is ridiculously bad. Anyone who would classify the writing as "clever" or any other synonym of the word must be related to those who made this film, because the writing is horrible. Granted, there are many werewolf films and similar movies of the horror genre that are much less thoughtful with even worse writing, but that certainly does not mean that since this one is better that it is good.

The only thing that saves this movie is the acting. There are some good scenes. The interaction between Nicholson and Pfeiffer is good, as would be expected. The predictability of the plot combined with the poor writing, however, really hamper this movie's chances of being good. If you're a die-hard Nicholson fan, or if you want a werewolf flick that is a little different, then check this one out. If you want a good, well-written movie, look elsewhere.