A Road Trip, But With A Lynchian Sense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                                  I remember first seeing "Wild At Heart" in 1990.  That was 36 years ago, I was 35, and took the day off to do so, because, with David Lynch at the helm, I was expecting the next "Blue Velvet."  Instead, I couldn't understand what the hell was going on.  The one thing my memory retained was of an unconscious Nicolas Cage lying on the ground, while a bubble enclosed Glinda type hovers above him.

                                     But that was then, and this is now.  If David Lynch in "Blue Velvet," exposed the seamy underside of Middle America, with "Wild At Heart" he lets the White Trashiness of Cape Fear, North Carolina and Big Tuna Texas hang out their dirty laundry in all their trashiness.

                                         Laura Dern and Nicolas Caage play Lula Pate Ridley, and he Sailor Ridley, two overaged White Trash kids who are simply sex, drug, crime and murder crazed.  Isabella Rossellinni turns up as a prostitute of sorts and is just as compelling as she was in "Blue Velvet" but gets less screen time here, unfortunately.  Willem Dafoe does his usual Willem Dafoe thing; the same goes for Jack Nance, and both are terrific.

                                             "Wild At Heart" has a wild visual quality; the viewer can look at it and admire it sequence by sequence because it is brilliantly made, yet, in the end, like me, may not like it all that much.  Hey, if you are exploring Lynch's work it is required, but I would not run out and see this again.

                                               As I mentioned earlier about Glinda, Lynch inserts several "Wizard Of Oz" references in here.  Diane Ladd, as Lula's mother, just about steals the show, and livens every scene she is in, from putting lipstick over her face to occasional glimpses of her riding on a broomstick like the Wicked Witch Of The West.  Jank Nance mentions Toto, and in frustration, Laura Dern, alone in a motel room, clicks her red shoes three times.  I was more aware of all this now, and don't forget Rossellini's character in "Blue Velvet" was named Dorothy.

                                                 Lynch's sizzling hot visuals lend an atmosphere to a film short on narrative.  The strip mall trashiness of Big Tuna is shown in all its glory, and the end, with Laura Dern finally dressed in a bargain basement dress instead of the slut wardrobe she wears throughout the rest of the film demonstrates an actress waiting to break through, if only this film gave her a chance.

                                                     Oh, and the sex scenes!  Nicolas Cage still looked good here; today no one would do scenes as brazen as these with him.  And while Ladd livens things up, Louise Fletcher, Grayson Hall, or Sylvia Miles could easily have done her part.

                                                        I got more out of "Wild At Heart" with age and a second viewing.

                                                        But I am none too eager to experience a return viewing soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!