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Before Anne Heche came to prominence as the lover (and then ex-lover) ofEllen DeGeneres, she carved out a career as a sharp, intelligent actress, someone who could save a movie by appearing on the fringes, as in The Juror, for instance. Mixed in with supporting roles were a few indie leads--Wild Side is one of the latter, despite Heche's third billing. And a very strange item it is. Heche plays a banking go-getter who moonlights as a high-class call girl, with the movie hinting that the two professions may not be all that dissimilar. A liaison with a crooked financier (Christopher Walken in extremis) and later with his wife (Joan Chen) puts our heroine in a very confusing situation, especially when she gets in the way of a chauffeur/undercover cop/predator, played by Steven Bauer in high Eric Roberts mode. If the story is not always coherent, the actors nevertheless shoot off sparks, and the movie pulses with a weird energy all its own.

Wild Side was the last picture directed by Donald Cammell, whose 1970 film Performance (co-directed by Nicolas Roeg) is one of the defining films of its era. This cut of Wild Side is credited to the pseudonymous "Franklin Brauner" because Cammell was unhappy with the radical re-edit performed without his consent. A director's cut had been prepared, but Cammell did not live to see it. He committed suicide in 1996, leaving behind a very small output of films in his foreshortened career. Wild Side, even in its cut form, carries his signature traits of authentic disorientation and intense, twisted sex. And while it's a guaranteed perk for prurient viewers, the torrid coupling of Heche and Chen is just one equation in the film's convoluted sexual arithmetic. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (30)

An enigmatic, unjustly forgotten masterpiece
Donald Cammell's beautiful and poetic WILD SIDE concludes the path that he began with Nicolas Roeg in 1969. I am referring, of course, to their directorial debut, the magisterial PERFORMANCE. As in PERFORMANCE, the principal characters mirror one another at crucial points---the rogue undercover cop (Steve Bauer), the vampirelike money launderer (Christopher Walken), his bewitching wife (Joan Chen), the banker/prostitute (Anne Heche) all perform a round-dance in which each partner takes on the other's identity, is attracted to the other because s/he sees in him/her a reflection of his/her own self. The fascination with homoeroticism, as in PERFORMANCE, could be taken on its own terms; more profoundly, it touches upon the film's Cammell's tireless obsession with finding similitude in difference.

Homosexuality is the love of the same. Homosexuality is a metaphor in the film for difference-in-similarity, similarity-in-difference.

And yet on a more visceral level, the film works beautifully as a lesbian fantasy. Without a trace of moral justification, Anne Heche is an object of lust for the viewer.

As in PERFORMANCE, the dialogue in this film is highly lyrical and stylized.

Every scene in this film is essential. Shame on the MPAA for forcing Cammell to censor his film (the film is now attributed to his psuedonym, "Frederick Brauner"). To all those who read these words: see the unrated version and only the unrated version.

Without a knowledge of PERFORMANCE, the significance of this film will be lost on the viewer.

Someday, Donald Cammell will be celebrated as one of the greatest directors in film history. His films are PERFORMANCE, DEMON SEED, THE WHITE OF THE EYE, and WILD SIDE.

Realistic lesbian sex
I don't really like films about organized crime or criminals, however there is a small amount of the movie devoted to the lesbian sex/love relationship Alex (Anne Heche) and Bruno's wife (Joan Chen). Anne Hech and Joan Chen did a superior job in their love scene, depicting lesbian sex. Most actresses do not understand lesbian sex or lesbian romance and thus misrepresent a deeply passionate act that they know nothing about. I haven't seen passion between two women portrayed this well in any movie I've ever seen AND I've seen dozens of movies with lesbian characters. Their sex scene was filmed tastefully and did not seem fake. I would not be surprised if Anne Heche actually had an orgasm in the scene. Their love scene was that realistic and convincing! The only reason I do not give this movie 5 stars is because of the violence and crude, brutal, criminal behavior of the other characters in the movie. I would like to see Anne Heche in another movie playing a similar character in a lesbian love affair, but make that THE FOCUS of the story instead of a sub-plot of the story.

More mild, than wild, but Anne Heche did look fairly good.
This strange mix of money, lesbian sex, and a plot that (at times) was a little hard to follow, did feature a fairly decent looking Anne Heche (Ellen Degeneres' former girlfriend, and I could see why) and Joan Chen, who have a few fairly steamy scenes together (too bad Ms. Chen didn't show more). The always strange Christopher Walken and Steven Bauer flesh out (pardon the usage) story, such as it is. I give it four stars for Heche, who can't really act, but did look good; I might have given it five, if Chen had shown more, other than that, ok, but not great. [Supposed to be the unrated edition, but I'm not so sure].

Wild Side
The only edition available on DVD is apparently the R-rated one which does not contain the hot scene with Heche and Chen.

Call me . . . ????
The provocative Anne Heche made a reputation in Hollywood due to her affairs with high profile comedians on her climb to the top. Few know that Heche was briefly Steve Martin's girlfiend before she was Ellen's, and despite her evident ability and attractiveness, a certain pall fell over her persona, as a real life heartbreaker (even before Ellen). She has hence been cast generally as a heavy, if not fem-lesbian, and even a twisted type.
All of which makes her heady performance in Wild Side the more exciting. As the reviews tell you, the film is uneven. Yet, it has moments of brilliance from all the players. Walken is wickedly funny in his absurd role, Bauer is often convincing, and Chen is her usual, magnificent self.
But Heche carries the film. The brief post-rape phone call scene on the kitchen counter is a high art, convincing
and sensitive, and she has rarely looked better than in the brocade (did I get the spelling?) kimono she wears in the following scenes.
But, it is the romance with Chen that is worth the price of the disc (although any cuts other than the director's should be universally outlawed on DVD, at least). Let's face it, these women are gorgeous, and even better together, au natural. As close as mainstream Hollywood has gotten (or may ever get) to XXX sex. But, the power of the justly celebrated scene arises from Heche's elegant portrayal of her character's seduction. The film will probably endure, despite its many flaws, as the most revealing testimony to her notable, if not major, talent. Sexy and worth watching. ... Read more