It’s just silly throughout its entire duration, from the obnoxious rock music that blares whenever shit goes down to the heightened, exaggerated acting from all involved. You can claim that this is Lynch targeting the American Dream and its faults again, but I don’t think Wild at Heart is meant to be deep. Of course Sailor gets into trouble for murdering his would-be assassin (cue up “Jailhouse Rock” right about now), and Wild at Heart focuses on Lula’s attempts to live happily with Sailor, her mother’s vicious attempts to control her daughter’s life, and Sailor’s desperation to make ends meet. Sailor and Lula (played by Laura Dern, who is always welcome to be cast in everything and anything, but is a particularly great Lynchian veteran) are in love, but Lula’s mother (Diane Ladd, who was actually nominated for an Academy Award for this film) vows to preclude their lifetime together by hiring an assailant. And yet this is the only time he ever won the Palme d’Or. You can tell that he made this for fun amidst all of his Twin Peaks work. Whether you’re somehow hallucinating Glinda the Good Witch played by Sheryl Lee (Lynch always has her as the face of innocence and promise, and I like that) or you’re viewing Sailor (yes, that is the protagonist’s name) get into some real Blue Hawaii type scuffles (this time with blood), Lynch’s warped vision is fully realized. It’s known that The Wizard of Oz and Elvis Presley’s Hollywood films were the biggest influences for this disturbed road film, and that much is obvious when you watch it (Nicolas Cage does his best Elvis impersonation as directed by Lynch, and it’s one of the most amazingly over-the-top performances of all time). It’s as if Lynch was trying to channel the most all-American film he could muster.
I think Wild at Heart is a riot, and some of the most insane fun I’ve ever had watching a film, but it is unquestionably Lynch’s messiest motion picture to date (his worst is still Dune, as that is his only film I would consider bad to any degree). Having said that, I can acknowledge when something maybe isn’t his finest work.
I’d easily and proudly rank him in my top five favourite filmmakers of all time.
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