Wild at Heart - You have to be in the mood

I guess there’s probably three types of people when it comes to David Lynch films (1) People who love his work and find it unique, deep and a refreshing change from the Hollywood norm (2) People who find it a pretentious mess, lacking in any real story (3) People who say, “Who’s David Lynch?” If you fall into the third category then I guess that jumping into his 1990 film ‘Wild at Heart’ is as good as any place to start your journey into his twisted mind.  For ‘Wild at Heart’ is quite a ‘typical’ David Lynch film, in that it’s narrative deliberately strays away from being particularly ‘linear’ and – in many cases – is open to interpretation as to what is actually going on in the story.  Much of what you get from a David Lynch film is based on how it makes you feel, rather than the story it tells.

The film stars Nicholas Cage, who plays a young man with a – you guessed it – wild streak.  He falls in love with a young – and kind of equally wild – seventeen year old (Lynch’s favourite leading lady, Laura Dern) and the two of them embark on a road trip across the wastelands of America – much to the disgust of Dern’s onscreen mother!  In fact, rather than just posting a snotty comment on her Facebook status, she goes and hires some weird hitmen to ‘take care of the situation’ (if you know what I mean?).  Thus the film takes on a more murderous tone.

So, they travel across America meeting one weird person after the next, participating in weird dialogue and perforated by weird s*xual exploits (all of this totally normal for a David Lynch film!).  Now, when I talk about Lynch’s trademark ‘weirdness’ I normally refer to not just the dialogue that’s spoken, but the WAY it’s said.  Pauses are drawn out longer than is normal, making conversation deliberately uncomfortable.  Then you have the – seemingly random – bursts of dramatic music overlaid across simple actions like a car pulling slowly into a parking space.  And that’s just the tip of the ‘weirdness iceberg’ – everything is pretty ‘textbook Lynch’ and to add an extra bizarre feel to the proceedings, it’s loosely based on ‘The Wizard of Oz!’ (you’ll soon pick up the not so subtle symbolism!).

Nicholas Cage is allowed to almost run free, which does play well into his ‘wild’ nature.  Dern too goes a little mad sometimes, however I did find her a little annoying from time to time due to her constant screaming that would make ‘Willie’ from ‘Temple of Doom’ proud!  The rest of the cast pop up here and there, act weird and then go away again – this really is Cage’s baby.  However, just because we never see Lynch onscreen (you’ll have to watch ‘Twin Peaks’ for that – and it’s worth it) you can see his fingerprints all over it.  His use of fire is nearly as prominent as in ‘Twin Peaks.’ I guess this is used to denote danger.  That’s a fairly obvious one, but there are those elements of the film that even a die-hard Lynch fan doesn’t understand!

So, where do I come down on the three types of people I spoke about in my opening paragraph?   Well, as I said, I’m a die-hard fan.  I do watch all his stuff and enjoy (most of) it.  I like the mood and feel he creates, even if the story does get more than a little confusing.  His work is a refreshing change from the ‘classic Hollywood narrative’ that we’re so used to.  But, don’t get me wrong – his films are hard work!  I don’t always get what he’s trying to say.  In ‘Wild at Heart’ there is at least a main story running through it.  This is more than can be said for one of his later films, ‘Inland Empire.’ That, despite a few moments of ‘Lynchian gold’ was almost unwatchable when it came to its ‘story!’  So, if you’re a fan of David Lynch’s (filmic) work then you should know what you’re in for.  If you’ve never seen one of his films before, have a long, hard think about what you’ve read here before you invest your time into it.  And, if you simply hate his work, I doubt there’s much here to win you round.

Oh, and maybe I should have added a ‘fourth’ category when it comes to people and their relationship to Lynch’s work – (4) People who have seen his cult TV show ‘Twin Peaks’ and are therefore intrigued as to how his work translates to the big screen.  I’ll tell you now that ‘Wild at Heart’ bears little resemblance to the show (besides a fair few of its actors making cameos), so if you’re looking for some ‘Damn fine cherry pie,’ then you won’t find it here.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that