Wild at Heart (1990)
Genre: Road movie / Thriller
Duration: 125 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: David Lynch
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe
IMDb score:
7,2 (113.863)
Releasedate: 17 August 1990
Wild at Heart plot
"A wild and crazy love story."
Sailor (Nicolas Cage) is released from prison and wants to go to California with his girlfriend (Laura Dern). Her mother is vehemently against this and sends a hit man after them to get rid of Sailor. Not only because he takes her daughter from her, but also and especially because Sailor knows more about something that happened in the past.
Actors and actresses
Sailor
Lula
Bobby Peru
Marietta Fortune
Johnnie Farragut
Marcelles Santos
Perdita Durango
Juana Durango
Reggie
Mr. Reindeer
Reviews & comments
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
Wild at heart disappointed me a bit in the sense that the bar for David Lynch is set quite high and expectations were therefore insufficiently met. With Wild at heart I saw an average road movie or thriller that didn't convince me enough in either genre. Just like in Badlands, the rogue runs off with a young naive wench. On the run this time from a wacko mother-in-law who can't bear the fact that a criminal like Sailor hangs out with her pure innocent daughter Lula.
The acting performances of both Dern and Cage - not my favorites anyway - do not appeal to the imagination. Even the magic that must be present with an amorous couple was missing so I could barely identify with them. Everything came across as rather clumsy and forced. And the Elvis chants also made me laugh more than on my emotion, let alone on my sense of credibility. But the film also has some strong scenes such as the entry of Bobby Peru, the car accident or the story of cousin Dell. The opening scene is also a trigger to look further.
No idea if Lynch wanted to make something clear with his film. A well-meant satire or something believable? I'm guessing. The passion between Sailor and Lula - despite the fact that I got too little involved in it - is authentic. The ending is bizarre. On the one hand nihilistic, but on the other hand it has a happy ending, entirely under the guise of the passionate love of our lovebirds.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Filmkriebel
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- 10326 messages
- 4837 votes
The Story of Sailor & Lula
This was a somewhat misunderstood work by Lynch at the time, but I liked it. It's a modern fairy tale about a "madly in love" couple who is overshadowed by the wicked pranks of Lula's evil mother. Wild at Heart is full of American cultural symbols: Elvis Presley, a sun-drenched road 66 atmosphere, dreamy scenes, sultry sex and almost surreal characters who seem to live in their own world, not to mention a portion of violence. It produces a brooding feverish film carried by Cage and Dern in beautiful roles that I enjoyed. I didn't miss a single movie with Cage during that period. It's a shame that he can now only be seen in bland original action films because he does have talent. Dafoe also great! He looks like a grenade exploded in his mouth.
I also had the feeling that Lynch didn't have much to say but it didn't seem like the point of this movie either; you have to think of it as Lynch's dream vision of America.
Translated from Dutch · View original
filmfan0511
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- 1125 messages
- 1166 votes
Wonderfully strange road trip from Lynch. Wild At Heart often has an almost mythical air about it; among other things because of the almost archetypal characters (the mother as the evil witch for example, Dafoe's character as a kind of representation of chaotic evil), but also because of the many bright use of color. The kitschy dance scenes, the sex scenes, the moments when they drive their car on a deserted highway; the way it is all portrayed (with often contrasting colors) gives it something transcendent. That one moment when Laura Dern's character can no longer hear the bad news on the radio, and then dances exuberantly along the road with Sailor to music is by far my favorite moment from the film; what a feeling of absolute freedom and dissimilation this evokes. Combined with the beautiful images, that scene is a surreal fairy tale in itself.
What makes this film so great is the series of enormously surprising figures, each even weirder than the other. Dafoe's character takes the cake here (his death too!), but everyone's performance is really enjoyable. Also nice to see many Twin Peaks faces in small roles (for example, the scene with Sherilyn Fenn is really such a random scene that only a director like Lynch can make). Personally, I didn't really see the added value of the Wizard of Oz references, but that doesn't matter much. Especially the strange characters, the atmosphere, and the entire visual look make this film a very nice Lynch (thematically a bit different from the rest of his oeuvre). 4*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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