He puts up with a lot from everyone, but all he really wants to do is escape from it all with Lula. It takes a sane man to make sense of all the insane folk in America's underbelly.

Sailor's character, although violent and hardbitten, seems the most normal of the lot. The other characters in the movie all seem to want to destroy that love. The viewer builds an empathy for the two main characters, as it would be a terrible thing to see their undying love for each other shattered. He has mastered the art of contemporary film making: a clever blend of black-comedy, violence and fantasy. The eccentricities of 'Tuna Town' in Texas, the insane car accident victim and Lula's nutcase cousin who believes that 'the man with the black glove is coming to get him'. Sailor and Lula meet up with some very strange characters whilst travelling far away from Lula's mother. She sends out a hitman to dispose of Sailor and bring back her daughter, but the lovely couple are on the run from her and the law. All of her slight idiosyncrasies and mannerisms well up to create a very intimidating mother. Her anger is so fierce that the viewer becomes slightly scared by her: her manic fits of rage where she plasters herself in red lipstick her bizarre paroxysms fueled by numerous cocktails. Their separation is exactly what Lula's crazed mother wants, as she believes that Sailor is a cold-blooded murderer who is putting her daughter in danger. The two protagonists, Sailor and Lula (Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern) are so in love with each other that they'd go to extreme lengths not to be separated. This is simultaneously a thrilling road movie and a revelation of small town, American country folk. One which has so much impact and so much individuality to it's merit that it turns out to be one hell of a movie.

This kind of high-octane violence which is fueled by maniacal characters and deranged intervals creates a fantastic effect. Heads are rammed against walls, fists are lunged into guts and what results is a brutally bashed corpse with brains pouring out of it's head. The opening scene to Wild At Heart features Nick Cage ferociously beating an assassin to death.

Wild at heart (1990 streaming)