Wild at Heart

Tonight I got a chance to sit down and watch the new special edition DVD of David Lynch's "Wild at Heart". As if the excitement of the glorious extra packed DVD wasn't enough, this was actually the first time I have seen this movie. Yes, even I haven't seen everything. This was a movie I had been meaning to get to for years, but never quite got around to. I am fan of David Lynch, but not all of his stuff, some of his films are too out there even for me. Fortunately "Wild at Heart" was just the right amount of crazy. The best way to describe this film would probably be "True Romance" on acid. It takes the basic storyline of boy and girl in love on the run and spins it into a crazy David Lynch-ian adventure. Pretty much everything about this movie worked for me. It was everything I like about Lynch without ever crossing the line of being odd for the sake of being odd. Much like "Blue Velvet", this movie is out there, but not confusing. The acting is pretty much perfect here too. Nick Cage was a bit uneven but overall very believable as the Elvis loving Sailor and Laura Dern works equally well as the young and vulnerable Lula. But where this movie really shines (not unlike "True Romance") is with the supporting roles. Even actors who only deliver one line are memorable here. Willem Dafoe and Diane Ladd especially turn in great performances among the best of their careers. Dafoe plays the alternately hilarious and terrifying Bobby Peru and Ladd plays the insane mother of Lula. I did not realize she was Dern's real life mother until it was mentioned in the extras on the DVD.

Hey, did someone mention DVD extras? Am I the king of the segue or what? If you are a "Wild at Heart" fan then you are going to love this DVD, it is loaded with a lot of very cool behind the scenes stuff. The best of the bunch is the "making of" featurette, which was longer than most and very enjoyable. All in all I am finally glad I got a chance to see this movie as it rated right up there with "Blue Velvet" among my favorite David Lynch films. If you haven't seen it, you should seek it out. If you have seen it and dug it, pick up this special edition DVD.