Wild At Heart (1990) - A modern Romeo and Juliet with lots of sex and violence - 7/10 (20/02/11)

This is movie is somewhat a modern version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet or a mixture of movies such as "Bonnie & Clyde", "The wizard of Oz" and David Lynch's previous "Blue velvet". It is a road movie about unconditional love and how a relationship can mature and become more than a running free romance. As for all of David Lynch's movies, there are many weird, retarded and brutal characters in this flick, a lot of violence and especially a lot of sex. Some mysterious and surreal scenes are also in this movie though not as many as in the later works of David Lynch. The movie is one of the rare ones of David Lynch that has no slow development as it begins with a quite heavy and rude scene and it is quite easy to follow and understand as the weird elements are often just details and little sidekick gems that have nothing to do with the main story. This movie may in that way please to the usual fans of the works of David lynch but also and especially to a larger public. The movie is surely entertaining, well acted and well filmed and that's why this flick gained a larger attention and success.

If you liked "Blue velvet", you might like this movie without a doubt. Once again, there are many well known actors in this movie that have often worked with David Lynch. Laura Dern plays Lula, a young woman that escapes from her controlling and conservative mother and her past as a raped and abused child confronted with the mysterious death of her father. Jack Nance plays a strange vagabond that tells a strange tale of his dog. Sherilyn Fenn plays a car accident victim that acts like a porcelain doll. Along side those actors, you get some new ones that are also doing convincing job. Nicolas Cage plays a romantic and naive rebel looking for his attachment to unconditional freedom. Willem Dafoe plays a strange and ugly villain. Once again, almost every character has something special and unique to offer even if some of them seem to be slightly over the top or even ridiculous but that's a well known brand of Lynch's movies.

The reason why this movie doesn't get a higher rating from me is that it doesn't have the unconditional way to freedom that main actor Nicolas Cage is always talking about. David Lynch seems to have been somewhat tamed to fit to a Hollywood movie and doesn't create a truly unique movie. Even the "Dune" movie about which Lynch wasn't happy at all in the end was more surreal and atmospheric than this one. I am missing the last kick of courage and genius to which I have been used by watching Lynch's entire movie collection. This movie is a less original one by him even though it is still a very good movie and not completely ordinary and tamed. I also think that some characters that are well introduced and seem promising aren't lead any further, like the menacing "Santos" that doesn't seem that frightening and evil in the end (he isn't comparable at all with the last villain of a Lynch movie before, Dennis Hopper in "Blue velvet"), the strange and uneasy "00 Spool" (played by Jack Nance that doesn't get the chance to play as excellent as in "Twin Peaks" or even "Eraserhead") or the crazy cousin "Dell" (that doesn't have the charm of the crazy characters from "Twin Peaks" for example). This movie seems to be a quick shot and Lynch didn't put that much time and passion into the characters as he usually did.

Finally, this is surely one of David Lynch's less convincing flicks but for any one that is looking for an entertaining and well played road movie with some surreal elements and a lot of sex, violence and rock'n'roll (the speed/thrash metal band "Powermad" is featured in this flick as well as songs by Elvis Presley), you will surely get an explosive mixture.