Review of Wild at Heart (1990) by Harry W — 09 Feb 2014

Wild at Heart has one of the most powerful intros in film history. After a series of explosions and opening credits, it follows with a contrast between upper class life and street violence by combining the two themes into one massively violent and climactic moment where Nicolas Cage showcases his over-the-top anger without turning it into a joke like he did in Deadfall. And soon after, Wild at Heart begins as an angry expedition through the violent side of America.

The soundtrack in Wild at Heart is excellent. It makes use of speed metal by the band Powermad at immaculate moments as well as other well composed pieces. The atmosphere is consistently in tune with the soundtrack, and it varies through intense and powerfully emotional scenes, despite treading through a lot of material that is usually more intense and shocking than emotional. But luckily David Lynch knows how to handle it.

Although it's one of his significantly more down to earth efforts, David Lynch's touch of surrealism is very interesting in Wild at Heart since it takes fantasy elements from the classic The Wizard of Oz and puts them into a twisted, brutal, romantic thriller without ever seeming like he's bit off more than he can chew. He manages to gently handle everything in Wild at Heart so that the interesting plot manages to wade through all of its interesting themes, touching on an interesting story structure as well.

And when it comes to acting, Wild at Heart had no shortcomings.

Nicolas Cage makes a powerful lead. Before he became so internationally recognisable as an acclaimed actor and later as a sellout joke he gave some insightful juvenile performance, and Wild at Heart is an excellent example of that. At the right moments he is rough and angry, but the standout skill comes from his chemistry with Laura Dern because we get a feel that he actually does in fact care for her. The chemistry he shows for her is love and passion, and it's nothing short of thoroughly convincing. Anyone interested in seeing Nicolas Cage get angry without going over the top like he has in other films such as Deadfall or The Wicker Man will enjoy his work in Wild at Heart.

And Laura Dern is all too memorable in Wild at Heart because she is at her complete sexiest. Along with her chemistry with Nicolas Cage and Diane Ladd, and her skillful portrayal of innocence through her facial actions and sweet line delivery, but she is also undeniably sexy. You can see the innocence in her, but you can see that she plays it through her sec appeal very well. It's an ambitious move she made starring in Wild at Heart and she passed with flying colours.

Diane Ladd was exceptional in Wild at Heart because her skill at portraying a manipulative and sadistically evil mother was hauntingly powerful and very antagonistic. She kept the intensity of the second storyline interesting in a really dark sense, and her skill at achieving multiple personalities through chemistry with different characters was spot on. She is at some of her finest in Wild at Heart, and the Academy Awards managed to recognise that.

Considering that I essentially fell in love with Sherilynn Fenn for her work as Audrey Horne in Twin Peaks, I was really happy to see her working with David Lynch again in Wild at Heart. Even with such a small role she makes such a notable and powerful presence in a scene where she grasps the atmosphere so utterly finely that the result is shockingly effective. She was perfect for the part.

Harry Dean Stanton and Willem Dafoe were also both great.

One of the issues is that since Wild at Heart instantly starts off at a heavily fast and angry paced with instant death and sex, it never really succeeds at maintaining a consistent pace. At times it makes sudden drops to being slow while at others it stays rapid and rushed, and the lack of consistency manages to draw the attention from viewers and confuse the viewing experience. Along with this are a scattershot series of plot dynamics which essentially shoot each other from all directions and suddenly change the direction of the story, for better and for worse. Sometimes that's a little too mesmerising to comprehend.

The entire film is a bit of a shaky experience, and the interest in the story is hit and miss at times. The story really loses momentum in the second half of the story and it's ending is sort of abrupt in a way.

But still, Wild at Heart was a gripping and extremely well acted thriller from talented director David Lynch which features one of the greatest film intro scenes ever made.