Wolf (1994)

I liked what another reviewer wrote about 1994's "Wolf", in that Jack Nicholson's lycanthropic troubles could be summed up as a metaphor for a midlife crisis, and if you think about it, that really makes sense. Case in point. Jack Nicholson stars as a middle-aged editor for some type of crusty publishing house. Jack's problem is that he is about to be fired and replaced with his backstabbing and younger protégé, whom is also, surprise surprise, banging his wife. He also has fallen for his bosses younger daughter and to top it all off, it seems that the nasty wolf bite he recently acquired in Vermont is causing him to turn into a werewolf. Talk about a whirlwind of events. There really is nothing scary about "Wolf" say, in a "Howling" type vein, but rather it's an interesting take on what it would be like if you slowly found yourself turning into a wolf. In some funny scenes we see Jack getting acquainted with his newfound abilities of super hearing and smell, good stuff there. The old libido is cranked up to high as well...who says turning into a werewolf has to be all that bad? Some of the humorous touches are dead on, notably the scene where Nicholson marks his territory by pissing on his adversaries leg. Appearance wise, "Wolf" of course had a big ass budget to back it up, and the effects and production values are top notch, not to mention the film looks great on a whole. The f/x is low key; so don't expect some type of "Howling" or "American Werewolf" type stuff. The wolf f/x is basically limited to Nicholson sporting fangs and long sideburns, though he does look extra wolfy at the end of the film. The acting was dead on (how many times do I get to say that?), and the relationship between Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer was sort of believable. The two-hour running time did drag at times, but the wolf battle at the end is worth the wait. A nice flick that did a good job on retelling the old werewolf story. Lon Chaney would be proud.