Parents' Guide to Wild at Heart

David Lynch's adaptation of Barry Gifford's novel contains much of his trademark powerful, nightmarish imagery, even if it also appears that he might have been grasping at straws at times. At its core, Wild at Heart is a pretty simple, very good lovers-on-the-run film noir; Sailor and Lula are super-cool yet sympathetic characters whose love is never in doubt. In their scenes together, they seem to truly appreciate each other's nuances and to respect one another. Even if they have been the victims of bad luck and made some bad choices, they are worth rooting for, and Cage and Dern are terrific in their roles (especially Dern, whose physicality in this movie is striking).

Yet Lynch seems to have let his artistic id take over a bit too often, obsessing on both The Wizard of Oz and Elvis Presley, and trying to shoehorn references into the movie whenever possible -- whether they fit or not. Lynch also includes some moments of plain weirdness, such as a man talking with a high-pitched voice and another man (Jack Nance, of Eraserhead) speaking in odd riddles, which only calls attention to itself. But for the majority of the movie, Lynch's touch works, and provides a strange, entertaining ride. Incidentally, Lynch's groundbreaking TV series Twin Peaks debuted later this same year, and many of that show's actors can be seen in small parts here.