Wolf

A mild-mannered publisher is going through a midlife crisis: A merger is leaving him forced out of his job and a smarmy junior executive is betraying him both at work and at home. However, a recent attack by an animal he hit during a business trip to New England is leaving him feeling more assertive and manly than ever, and is attracting the advances of the sexy daughter of his boss who has picked up on his scent. Mike Nichols' "Wolf" is a darkly funny and intelligent film that transplants the werewolf tale to modern corporate America. Having just prior played The Devil and The Joker, Jack Nicholson can play a wolfman in his sleep, as he does so deliciously here. Fine players surround the great Lothario, including Michelle Pfeiffer as the troubled and seductive boss's daughter, James Spader as the snaky yuppie, Christopher Plummer as Pfeiffer's father, and Richard Jenkins as a bumbling detective. I found this to be a sly and entertaining picture until the final denouement, from which Jack is almost completely absent (having totally morphed into a lyacanthrope). At this point the movie has deconstructed into a standard horror/action picture, but the first 3/4s of this picture are really worth a look with Nichols and Nicholson working at the top of their game.