Wild at Heart **** (1990, Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Diane Ladd, Harry Dean Stanton, Isabella Rossellini, Crispin Glover) – Classic Movie Review 2644

Writer-director David Lynch’s 1990 Palme d’Or best film winner at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival stars Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern as newly released convict Sailor Ripley and his girlfriend Lula Fortune.

Sailor and Lula ignore the rules of Sailor’s probation and set out for California. But Lula’s crazed mother Marietta (played by her real-life mom Diane Ladd) just can’t stand the thought of Lula being with Sailor. So Sailor and Lula unwittingly become young lovers on the run from a variety of weirdoes whom Marietta has hired to kill Sailor. 

And the duo are also being doggedly pursued by gaunt detective Juana Durango (Harry Dean Stanton). Sailor and Lula witness a young woman dying after a car accident, which is a bad omen. 

There’s a clutch of astonishing performances from all the cult cast in this dark and dangerous thriller-cum-love-story which tops even Lynch’s Blue Velvet for wildness, though perhaps not quite for accomplishment.

Lynch frequently dazzles the eye in cinematographer Fred Elmes’s images, though he doesn’t quite manage to stir the blood like he does in Blue Velvet, even if he spills enough of it. Lynch’s screenplay is based on Barry Gilford’s novel.

Also in the iconic cast are Willem Dafoe, Isabella Rossellini, Crispin Glover, J E Freeman, Grace Zabriskie, Calvin Lockhart, Freddie Jones, John Lurie, Jack Nance, David Patrick Kelly, Marvin Kaplan, W Morgan Sheppard and Sherilyn Fenn.

Cage and Dern are excellent, and Ladd is great in her psychotic turn, and gained Best Supporting Actress nominations ast the Golden Globes and Oscars.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2644

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