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IMDbPro

Wild at Heart

  • 1990
  • R
  • 2h 5m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
97K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,623
399
Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern in Wild at Heart (1990)
Home Video Trailer from Samuel Goldwyn
Play trailer1:50
6 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyCrimeDrama

Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.

  • Director
    • David Lynch
  • Writers
    • Barry Gifford
    • David Lynch
  • Stars
    • Nicolas Cage
    • Laura Dern
    • Willem Dafoe
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    97K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,623
    399
    • Director
      • David Lynch
    • Writers
      • Barry Gifford
      • David Lynch
    • Stars
      • Nicolas Cage
      • Laura Dern
      • Willem Dafoe
    • 265User reviews
    • 105Critic reviews
    • 52Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 5 wins & 12 nominations total

    Videos6

    Wild at Heart
    Trailer 1:50
    Watch Wild at Heart
    Pedro Pascal Answers Our Burning Questions
    Clip 2:26
    Watch Pedro Pascal Answers Our Burning Questions
    5 Forgotten Gems From 1990
    Clip 4:04
    Watch 5 Forgotten Gems From 1990
    'Wild At Heart' | Anniversary Mashup
    Clip 1:27
    Watch 'Wild At Heart' | Anniversary Mashup
    Wild at Heart
    Clip 2:46
    Watch Wild at Heart
    Wild at Heart
    Clip 1:27
    Watch Wild at Heart

    Photos130

    Nicolas Cage in Wild at Heart (1990)
    Isabella Rossellini in Wild at Heart (1990)
    Diane Ladd in Wild at Heart (1990)
    Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern in Wild at Heart (1990)
    Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern in Wild at Heart (1990)
    Hannah Kozak with Isabella Rossellini on location of the David Lynch film "Wild At Heart"
    Isabella Rossellini and Hannah Kozak on David Lynch's Wild at Heart.
    Justine Bateman at an event for Wild at Heart (1990)
    Laura Dern and Renny Harlin at an event for Wild at Heart (1990)
    Sharon Stone at an event for Wild at Heart (1990)
    Nicolas Cage and Lisa Stothard at an event for Wild at Heart (1990)
    Rebecca De Mornay and Bruce Wagner at an event for Wild at Heart (1990)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Nicolas Cage
    Nicolas Cage
    • Sailor
    Laura Dern
    Laura Dern
    • Lula
    Willem Dafoe
    Willem Dafoe
    • Bobby Peru
    J.E. Freeman
    J.E. Freeman
    • Santos
    Crispin Glover
    Crispin Glover
    • Dell
    Diane Ladd
    Diane Ladd
    • Marietta Fortune
    Calvin Lockhart
    Calvin Lockhart
    • Reggie
    Isabella Rossellini
    Isabella Rossellini
    • Perdita
    Harry Dean Stanton
    Harry Dean Stanton
    • Johnnie Farragut
    Grace Zabriskie
    Grace Zabriskie
    • Juana
    Sherilyn Fenn
    Sherilyn Fenn
    • Girl in Accident
    Marvin Kaplan
    Marvin Kaplan
    • Uncle Pooch
    William Morgan Sheppard
    William Morgan Sheppard
    • Mr. Reindeer
    • (as W. Morgan Sheppard)
    David Patrick Kelly
    David Patrick Kelly
    • Dropshadow
    Freddie Jones
    Freddie Jones
    • George Kovich
    John Lurie
    John Lurie
    • Sparky
    Jack Nance
    Jack Nance
    • 00 Spool
    Pruitt Taylor Vince
    Pruitt Taylor Vince
    • Buddy
    • Director
      • David Lynch
    • Writers
      • Barry Gifford
      • David Lynch
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      During filming, Laura Dern passed out when David Lynch asked her to smoke four cigarettes at once in one deep inhalation. When she came to, she saw a worried Lynch standing above her asking: "Tidbit! Are you alright?"
    • Goofs
      During the scene when Sailor's is running through a traffic jam to find Lula, a crew member and boom mic is visible in the reflection of one of the windows of a black van.
    • Quotes

      Lula: This whole world's wild at heart and weird on top.

    • Crazy credits
      The ending credits play over footage of Sailor singing "Love Me Tender" to Lula, rather than a black screen.
    • Alternate versions
      To avoid an X-rating in the USA, David Lynch added a smoky haze and spark impact to the shots where Bobby Peru (Willem Dafoe) shoots himself with a shotgun and blows his head off. The second shot has the same smoky haze on it to hide the chunk of his head flying though the air. The effect made the removal of his head from his body less clear and muted the blood and gore and got the movie an "R" rating. The uncut version was released outside the USA, but since the David Lynch-approved DVD came out in the U.S. (the shot was altered there), the censored transfer has been used on worldwide DVD releases as well, while most of the versions with the bloodier version of the scene have gone out of print. Oddly enough, the more graphic version is still shown in TV airings in the U.S. on the Sundance Channel.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Darkman/Wild at Heart/Pump Up the Volume/My Blue Heaven/The Witches (1990)
    • Soundtracks
      Slaughter House
      Written by Joel DuBay, Jeffrey Litke & Adrian Liberty

      Performed by Powermad

      Published by Cosmic Lug Publishing (ASCAP)

      Courtesy of Reprise Records

      by Arrangement with Warner Special Products

    User reviews265

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    A typical Lynch film - I'll leave it to you to decide if that's a good thing or bad thing
    Almost two years after beating a man to death in a fight, Sailor is released from prison and restarts his relationship with Lula - much to the disapproval of Lula's mother. When Sailor and Lula break parole and head for California, she hires a hitman after them to kill Sailor. Unaware of this, Sailor and Lula continue west, encountering all manner of weird and wonderful people on their way.

    I first tried to watch this when it first came on television, but I was watching it with family and felt uncomfortable with the nudity and turned it off. Years later I have seen many other Lynch films, have loved Twin Peaks and looked forward to a chance to watch it. I sat to watch it aware of the basic plot and that it was to be full of references to Wizard of Oz, but I wasn't prepared for the biggest surprise - that it just wasn't that good a film. I am not adverse to Lynch's universe of weird characters but I don't like it when I get the feeling that he is simply being weird for the sake of it.

    Certainly that seemed to be the case here: the plot is so loose and meaningless to almost be pointless even as a frame for weirdness - which is what it really is. The references to Wizard of Oz are all there but, rather than being part of the film, they are stuck in with clumsiness all the way - they seem like a gimmicky afterthought rather than a carefully scripted part of the film. The plot is more a collected of the usual Lynchian weirdness and gore. Sometimes this works really well when it is framed within an engaging film, but here the characters, images and action are all just left drifting in a relatively empty film. It's a shame because I really like many of Lynch's films and was looking forward to this, but even I am forced to admit that this film just isn't that good.

    The cast features many of Lynch regulars, but many seem to be lost due to the fact that they haven't got the material to do their stuff within. Cage is really quite good despite his simple character. Dern is given more to do but comes across rather hammy with it - her character should have had the emotional buy in to the film but she can't deliver it. Turns from Dafoe, Stanton, Rossellini, Fenn, Glover and others are all good but they exist as free floating weird characters rather than part of the film in the way I would have liked.

    Overall this is a typical Lynchian film in it's imagery, weird characters, strange story and violent/sexual content. Usually these would be good things in this context but here they aren't put together very well creating a film that, although worth seeing and weirdly fascinating, is not actually that good a film.
    helpful•47
    38
    • bob the moo
    • Mar 21, 2004

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    FAQ2

    • What are the differences between the R-Rated version and the Unrated version?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 17, 1990 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • David Lynch's Wild at Heart
    • Filming locations
      • El Paso, Texas, USA(Big Tuna, Texas town setting)
    • Production companies
      • PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
      • Propaganda Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $9,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $14,560,247
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,913,764
      • Aug 19, 1990
    • Gross worldwide
      • $14,563,251
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 5 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

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