Wild at Heart (1990)
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The story
In the wake of a violent encounter, lovers Lula Fortune and Sailor Ripley flee across the Southern United States. They are being pursued by Lula's mother, Marietta, who has hired both a private investigator and a dangerous gangster to track them down and eliminate Sailor. As the couple travels through a surreal landscape, they encounter various dangers and strange characters, all while trying to maintain their bond and escape the escalating threats from those hunting them.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After Sailor is released from prison, he and Lula Fortune flee across the South. They are pursued by Lula's mother, Marietta, who has hired detective Johnnie Farragut and gangster Marcello Santos to find them. Farragut is killed by Santos' associates. Along their journey, they encounter a dying woman from a car crash and the criminal Bobby Peru. Peru attempts to assault Lula, and later, during a botched robbery, he is killed by a sheriff's deputy. Sailor is imprisoned for his role in the robbery. During his incarceration, Lula gives birth to their son, Pace. Upon his release, the couple reunites in Los Angeles. After a brief period of separation where Sailor is briefly captured by a gang, he experiences a vision of the Good Witch and rushes to reunite with Lula and their son, finally singing 'Love Me Tender' to her.
- First release year
- 1990
- Runtime (minutes)
- 124
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Lynch
- Writers
- David Lynch · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Nicolas Cage · Sailor Ripley; Laura Dern · Lula Fortune; Willem Dafoe; Crispin Glover; Diane Ladd · Marietta; Isabella Rossellini; Harry Dean Stanton
- Genres
- Southern Gothic; black comedy; romantic crime; comedy-drama; crime thriller; comedy; romance
- Themes
- finding love in Hell; dark side of Americana; fantasy vs reality
- Tone and mood
- surreal; violent; romantic
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; neo-noir; musical elements
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1989 novel of the same name by Barry Gifford
- Reception
- The film received polarized reviews from critics initially but has been positively reevaluated in the years since its release.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 52 · scale: 100 · review count: 18
- Awards and nominations
- Palme d'Or · Grand Prize · Won; Academy Award · Best Supporting Actress · Nominated; Independent Spirit Award · Best Cinematography · Won
- Production trivia
- The film features extensive allusions to The Wizard of Oz and Elvis Presley.; The film was originally intended to have more explicit erotic scenes.; The film was completed one day before it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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