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U.S.A.
/ 1990
Directed by David Lynch
Starring
Nicolas Cage
Laura Dern
Willem Dafoe
Color / 122 Minutes / R
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC)
MGM Home Entertainment
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Dialog
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Radio
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MP3 format - 0.7 MB
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10
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
A
star-crossed couple (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern)
go in search of peace and happiness, and encounter
an entourage of weird characters along the way...
There's pretty much no middle
ground when it comes to David Lynch. Adoring fans
exalt him as a genius, one of the greatest American
directors of all time, while detractors deride
him as a pretentious clown. Having said that,
I am more in the middle than most when it comes
to this idiosyncratic artist. On the one hand,
I applaud and admire him for retaining a distinctive
voice during a time when Hollywood filmmaking
is dominated by bland mediocrity; on the other,
his penchant for the bizarre is more than a little
off-putting at times. Wild
At Heart plays very much like a "best and
worst of" compendium of the director, much like
1995's Casino embodies
the best and worst of its director, Martin Scorsese.
Clearly an influence (and more
likely on original script writer Quentin Tarantino
than on director Oliver Stone) on Natural
Born Killers (1994), Wild
At Heart is a road movie that focuses on
a pair of wildly bizarre lovers who run afoul
of a string of even more bizarrely wild supporting
characters. Both films derive grim humor from
the grotesque, but while Stone's film tries (however
ham-fistedly) to function as a commentary on the
media and the way in which it transforms the dregs
of society into celebrities, Lynch's film makes
no such attempt at social commentary. The film
is, quite simply, a nightmarish portrait of human
excess in which the central figures of Sailor
and Lula are redeemed by the strength and purity
of their love.
Where the film falters is in
the heavy handed quality of its vision. Lynch,
as ever, falls in love with being weird simply
for the sake of being weird. In its landscape
of bizarre low lifes and eccentric losers, one
yearns for some sense of stability in the form
of at least one normal character — alas,
no such relief is offered. The director also overdoes
the homages to The Wizard
Of Oz. The use of references to the beloved
Hollywood classic is by no means arbitrary (it
speaks, above all else, of a desire to reach some
level of happiness, symbolized by the Mecca-like
image of Oz) but Lynch can't resist the urge to
hammer the viewer over the head with explicit
references, culminating in a particularly risible
sequence in which a hallucinating Sailor imagines
the Good Witch coming down to offer him sage words
of advice.
Yet,
while the film loses points for lack of subtlety,
it still works for the most part. The excellent
cast certainly adds to its appeal. As the star-crossed
lovers, Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern give remarkably
strong performances. Both actors teeter perilously
close to being mere caricatures (Cage with his
Elvis-like delivery, Dern with her shrill outbursts),
but overcome stereotyping through sheer conviction.
Bizarre as the characters might be, Cage and Dern
nevertheless convince one of their mutual love
for each other, thus adding some genuine emotion
to what otherwise could have been a stylized freakshow.
The supporting cast includes some terrific actors,
almost all of whom are used in cameo roles: Willem
Dafoe (The Last Temptation
Of Christ, The Loveless),
Calvin Lockhart (The
Beast Must Die), Freddie Jones (The
Elephant Man, Frankenstein
Must Be Destroyed), Diane Ladd (Alice
Doesn't Live Here Anymore), Crispin Glover
(Back To The Future,
2003's Willard),
Harry Dean Stanton (Escape
From New York, Christine),
Pruit Taylor Vince (Natural
Born Killers, Monster),
Isabella Rossellini (Blue
Velvet), and so on. Frederick Elmes' stunning
widescreen cinematography creates some indelible
images, while Angelo Badalamenti's score consistently
evokes the appropriate atmosphere.
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MGM's
new special edition release of Wild
At Heart continues in the fine tradition
of their release of Lynch's Blue
Velvet. The 2.35/16x9 image looks simply
stunning, with vivid colors, a sharp image and negligible
print damage. While there has been some controversy
over this being taken from a censored print (never
fear, the nudity is entirely intact, as is the bulk
of the violent imagery; only a shocking gunshot
decapitation is altered via some soft focus and
a puff of smoke — some have even argued that this
makes it all the more effective), it's doubtful
that a better edition will be forthcoming any time
soon. Audio options include the original stereo
surround track and a newly mixed 5.1 track. Both
tracks are in great shape, and only one's obsession
with being a purist will keep them from checking
out the excellent new 5.1 sound mix.
Extras
include the original theatrical trailer, four TV
spots, the original 1990 making-of featurette, and
several new documentaries focusing on the film and
on Lynch's relationship with the DVD medium. While
Lynch has been notoriously reticent to participate
in commentaries and the like, these newly prepared
documentaries offer a valuable insight into his
creative process and excesses.
12/30/04 |
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