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Wild at Heart

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66% Tomatometer 56 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 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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Wild at Heart

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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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Critics Reviews

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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 Full Review 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 Full Review Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Even the title is a letdown, somehow. Rated: C- Sep 17, 2008 Full Review Noah Berlatsky Everything is Horrible (Substack) Unless your heart is a big old lump of rock, you’ve got to swoon at least a little when Sailor serenades Lula with “Love Me Tender” at the close. Jan 23, 2025 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Andrew The muscle car of movies. Tour de force of cinema. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/16/25 Full Review Nicholas B Good film but some scenes are very graphic. Only watched this because of Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/25/25 Full Review Alejandro E God rest David Lynch's soul. No one but Lynch could reinvent The Wizard of Oz in such a way, as a road movie, involving two dysfunctional, psychotic lovers on the run. Nicolas Cage, in one of his best roles, looks great singing Elvis Presley. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/02/25 Full Review thiago s Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos só as cenas do casal que são boas, a história é fraca, o elenco é mais ou menos, e só o casal ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom, o filme também teve algumas cenas sem sentido, e só o final deu uma leve alavancada com essas cenas fracas, e com tudo isso, eu não recomendo esse filme. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/14/25 Full Review Landon J Ugh, put curtly; gross, boring, sour, weird, and most of all, unenjoyable. This title left a bad taste in my mouth for days. As a Cage & Dafoe fan I'm not certain I was able to find anything redeeming about this. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/13/25 Full Review Brandon K This film is a wonderful adaption of the Barry Gifford series of books about Sailor and Lula in a very Lynchian take. Unfortunately most people are reluctant to watch it because it was early on in Cage's career and Willem Dafoe's portrayal as Bobby Peru is a miscarriage of an academy award. This movie is not for the faint of heart but is definately one of my top 5 favorite picks. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/08/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Wild at Heart

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Movie Info

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
Samuel Goldwyn Company, Media Home Entertainment
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