10 Greatest Ray Liotta Movies - Ranked

4. Something Wild

Ray liotta goodfellas
Orion

In his second ever movie role, Ray Liotta gave perhaps the best performance of his career.

Something Wild is a culture clash comedy by the late great Jonathan Demme, starring Jeff Daniels as uptight yuppie drone Charlie and Melanie Griffith as wild free spirit Audrey. The two meet-cute and tear around New Jersey causing trouble and learning to love one another despite their differences.

It could be an unappealing proposition (though with Demme’s acidic talent, it’s not) but for the introduction of Liotta as Audrey’s ex-husband Ray Sinclair. In a preview of much of his future career, Ray is a walking nightmare, dead set on getting Audrey back and willing to tear through anything in his way.

That obstacle, of course, is Charlie, and much of the film is built around a stand off between Jeff Daniels’ decent but wimpy civilian and Liotta’s wiry, unpredictable ex-con.

The part did wonders for Liotta in the short term, who feels in the best way like a bolt of terrifying reality wandering into a romantic comedy.

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Yorkshire-based writer of screenplays, essays, and fiction. Big fan of having a laugh. Read more of my stuff @ www.twotownsover.com (if you want!)