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Wild At Heart (1990)
Twin Peaks is my favorite tv show of all time, and Mulholland Drive is one of my favourite films, so I'm a bit of a David Lynch fan, even though I haven't seen much of his work yet. I've decided to seek out more of his films, but instead of starting with his more acclaimed work like Blue Velvet or Lost Highway, I went with this I disturbing road movie, mainly because I'm a bit of Nic Cage fan, and him in a Elvis-style role just sounds too good to pass up. So I gave Wild At Heart a go.
Wild At Heart is the story of Sailor and Lula, two lovers who go on the run from Lula's oppressive mother, who goes to incredible lengths to try and keep the two apart, including hiring hit men to kill Sailor.
If there was a role Nicolas Cage was born to play, it was Sailor Ripley. He's so cool in the role, and does a pretty good Elvis impersonation. He considered this a role Elvis could've played, so he decided to play it like Elvis. An interesting decision, which allows him to croon 'Love Me Tender' and pull off a snakeskin jacket. So good for him. Too bad the movie itself is too uneven, too bizarre for me to recommend.
Too bad, because there is a terrific story that could have been made into a engrossing and engaging love story, but instead it's a self indulgent mess of a film, that has it's highlights here and there, but not enough to distract you from the bizarre proceedings. It has a strong atmosphere to begin, but quickly descends into a general exercise in weirdness, with good musical choices in wrong places and too much heavy handed symbolism to even try to understand what it all means. For example, the crystal ball scenes? What the hell? Maybe I'm too much of a Lynch beginner to even try to comprehend what it seems to be conveying.
The cast didn't really resonate with me either, excluding Cage. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard from a friend that Diane Ladd was nominated for an Oscar for her rather annoying performance in this? Willem Dafoe tries to be menacing, but he plays the role too OTT that it's hilarious. Laura Dern is ok, but is overly melodramatic in her role.
This is too bad, because I REALLY wanted to like this movie, and there were some great individual scenes and a terrific central performance from Nicolas Cage. But overall, I can't say I enjoyed too much of it. That being said, I will revisit in the future after I've seen more of Lynch's work to see if my opinion changes.
But as of now...
+
Twin Peaks is my favorite tv show of all time, and Mulholland Drive is one of my favourite films, so I'm a bit of a David Lynch fan, even though I haven't seen much of his work yet. I've decided to seek out more of his films, but instead of starting with his more acclaimed work like Blue Velvet or Lost Highway, I went with this I disturbing road movie, mainly because I'm a bit of Nic Cage fan, and him in a Elvis-style role just sounds too good to pass up. So I gave Wild At Heart a go.
Wild At Heart is the story of Sailor and Lula, two lovers who go on the run from Lula's oppressive mother, who goes to incredible lengths to try and keep the two apart, including hiring hit men to kill Sailor.
If there was a role Nicolas Cage was born to play, it was Sailor Ripley. He's so cool in the role, and does a pretty good Elvis impersonation. He considered this a role Elvis could've played, so he decided to play it like Elvis. An interesting decision, which allows him to croon 'Love Me Tender' and pull off a snakeskin jacket. So good for him. Too bad the movie itself is too uneven, too bizarre for me to recommend.
Too bad, because there is a terrific story that could have been made into a engrossing and engaging love story, but instead it's a self indulgent mess of a film, that has it's highlights here and there, but not enough to distract you from the bizarre proceedings. It has a strong atmosphere to begin, but quickly descends into a general exercise in weirdness, with good musical choices in wrong places and too much heavy handed symbolism to even try to understand what it all means. For example, the crystal ball scenes? What the hell? Maybe I'm too much of a Lynch beginner to even try to comprehend what it seems to be conveying.
The cast didn't really resonate with me either, excluding Cage. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard from a friend that Diane Ladd was nominated for an Oscar for her rather annoying performance in this? Willem Dafoe tries to be menacing, but he plays the role too OTT that it's hilarious. Laura Dern is ok, but is overly melodramatic in her role.
This is too bad, because I REALLY wanted to like this movie, and there were some great individual scenes and a terrific central performance from Nicolas Cage. But overall, I can't say I enjoyed too much of it. That being said, I will revisit in the future after I've seen more of Lynch's work to see if my opinion changes.
But as of now...
+