Wolf (1994) ***

1994's Wolf is a weird smorgasbord of filmmaking talent. You've got Mike Nichols, director of such classics as Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and The Graduate (1967), making a $70 million werewolf picture set in the cutthroat world of publishing, with a cast including Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader, Richard Jenkins, and Christopher Plummer, makeup effects by genre legend Rick Baker, and an unusual score by maestro Ennio Morricone. This movie should be either be a modern-day classic or at least a batshit crazy failure, right? Well, it's neither. It's just merely...good.

What you get with Wolf is a 2-hour slow burn that, all things considered given the subject matter, is decidedly grounded in both its story and performances. There's humor sprinkled over the runtime (including a few spirited moments between Nicholson and Spader) but it never really gets campy. There's some decent effects throughout but mostly the big thing we learn is that werewolves have impressive leaping capabilities (filmed beautifully in slow motion).

Overall, Wolf is an entertaining slice of cinema that never quite lands. I had seen this film around the time it was released and possibly again after that but I didn't really remember it well, which is why I was eager to revisit it. I can see now why that is—it's unnecessarily long and it never really decides if it's a horror film or a romantic drama (to be fair, it can be both; it’s just never really enough of either). Had it been more salacious or more sultry, it probably would have left a greater impression. On some level, I have to admire it for refusing to be easily categorized.

Mike Nichols Feature Films Ranked