Wild at Heart

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Wild at Heart

R

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2h 5m

Comedy

Drama

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65%

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55 Reviews

81%

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25,000+ Ratings

After serving prison time for a self-defense killing, Sailor Ripley (Nicolas Cage) reunites with girlfriend Lula Fortune (Laura Dern). Lula's mother, Marietta (Diane Ladd), desperate to keep them apart, hires a hit man to kill Sailor. But he finds a whole new set of troubles when he and Bobby Peru (Willem Dafoe), an old buddy who's also out to get Sailor, try to rob a store. When Sailor lands in jail yet again, the young lovers appear further than ever from the shared life they covet.

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Critics Consensus

One of director David Lynch's more uneven efforts, Wild at Heart is held together by his distinctive sensibilities and compelling work from Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Sight & Sound

Perhaps the major problem is that despite Cage and Dern's best efforts, Lynch is ultimately interested only in iconography, not characters at all.

Jan 11, 2020

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Scott Tobias

The Dissolve

There's a spontaneous, anything-can-happen feeling to it that's the primary appeal of any road movie.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 27, 2015

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Even the title is a letdown, somehow.

Rated: C-

Sep 17, 2008

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Joe Lipsett

Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network

Something of an desert noir/soap opera fever dream with completely over the top performances (MVP Diane Ladd). Cage and Dern are both incredibly hot, even if the film itself feels slightly disjointed and never truly comes together cohesively.

Rated: 3.5/5

Apr 4, 2024

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Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

Wild at Heart's materials are so thin that the Lynchisms appear to be the film's principal reason for being. As the film runs on, the flaws accrue.

Rated: 2/4

May 9, 2023

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

A film that seems like a grand practical joke. [Full review in Spanish]

Dec 6, 2022

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Mason M

A bad David Lynch movie is still a good movie. I would dare to say it's Lynch's most shocking, partially due to it opening with Nicolas Cage beating a man to death. Nothing would imply it in the movie but the world that it creates feels like a twisted hell. A good film but it doesn't give us much to connect to with the characters and never gives a reason why the world of the film is the way that it is.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/07/24

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Sams K

Very good one. Cage and Dern are a hit-couple here with a disturbing Dafoe and of course a terrific Harry Dean Stanton.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/28/24

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Petros T

Pros: an unhinged Willem Dafoe, some unexpected but delicious splatter and a polka dot dress. Cons: just about everything else. The lead is a half-decent Elvis impersonator, we're constantly teased with footage of fire as if a great reveal is coming, everything related to Marietta is straight out of a soap opera, and from a certain point on, the story just feels random: inconsequential encounters, half the main characters disappearing and then teleporting out of nowhere, and a mawkish finale.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/21/24

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Chinu D

It’s a really good movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/20/24

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Adiya A

The idea behind this movie moved me a lot, but it was a movie with really satisfying expectations

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/20/24

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Bulgantamir B

played by my favorite actor. Liked

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/29/24

Full Review

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David Lynch

Director

Nicolas Cage

Sailor

Laura Dern

Lula

Diane Ladd

Marietta Fortune

Willem Dafoe

Bobby Peru

Isabella Rossellini

Perdita

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Synopsis

After serving prison time for a self-defense killing, Sailor Ripley (Nicolas Cage) reunites with girlfriend Lula Fortune (Laura Dern). Lula's mother, Marietta (Diane Ladd), desperate to keep them apart, hires a hit man to kill Sailor. But he finds a whole new set of troubles when he and Bobby Peru (Willem Dafoe), an old buddy who's also out to get Sailor, try to rob a store. When Sailor lands in jail yet again, the young lovers appear further than ever from the shared life they covet.

Director: David Lynch
Producer: Monty Montgomery, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Steve Golin
Screenwriter: David Lynch
Distributor: Media Home Entertainment, Samuel Goldwyn Company
Production Co: Propaganda Films, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 17, 1990, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.5M
Runtime: 2h 5m
Sound Mix: Surround