the film wild at heart has not stood up to the test of time

She approves even less when Sailor is sent to jail for manslaughter (he killed a man in self defence), less even than that when Lula goes to meet Sailor from prison, and her approval drops into super-negative approval ratings when Sailor and Lula decide to break parole and take off on a road trip across America. Sailor (Nicholas Cage, being fantastic) and Lula (Laura Dern) are in love madly, wildly, head-over-heels insane in love something which Lula’s mother Marietta does not approve of. Anyone who has seen Lost Highway or Mulholland Dr. Fortunately for us, however, this is one of the earlier Lynch films, so there is at least a surface plot that we can follow from A to B to C, reach the end and think ‘Yes, I have seen a film with a conclusion’.

Lynch, and therefore anyone watching with the intention of understanding it is pretty much screwed. I enjoy puzzles and riddles but watching David Lynch’s films, I get the feeling that he’s the kind of guy that spent a lot of time pulling off the labels and rearranging them on Rubik’s Cubes so they couldn’t be solved.Īll of which is my roundabout way of telling you that this film is directed by the aforementioned Mr. I’ve yet to see a film of his that didn’t challenge me to think not only after but during the film, trying to figure out whether the fact that everyone in the bar (which is on screen for about 4 seconds) is wearing a red hat is somehow the critical lynch(hur hur joke)pin to the greater understanding of the plot. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy them, mind. Most of the rest of the time (what little of it there is), I spend wondering what it would be like for me to actually understand what the heck is meant to be going on in any of his films at all. On my more cynical days, I instead think that David Lynch’s films are made exclusively so that Art Majors and self-proclaimed Film Intellectuals have something they can discuss and feel superior about at parties. Rich’s review: On my more paranoid days, I harbour the dark thought that all of David Lynch’s films are some form of colossal joke at my expense.

Rich’s rating: I am choosing to symbolise this film with the image of a custard coloured hat floating in a bowl of cheerios (no milk). Summary Capsule: An ex-con and his lady love go on a wild and surreal ride across America. The Scoop: R 1990, directed by David Lynch and starring Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, and Diane Ladd

“This jacket is a symbol of my individuality and personal freedom.”

The film wild at heart has not stood up to the test of time