| This is a really, really, really weird film. What is it about? If you can tell me that, you're a better person than I am. What can I say, it's David Lynch. The story centers around Sailor and Lula (Cage and Dern), a young couple who aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. The film opens to the light, upbeat sound of "In the Mood," which is sharply contrasted a few seconds later when Sailor brutally murders a man who threatens him with a knife. The man had been paid by Lula's somewhat crazed mother, Marietta (Ladd), to kill Sailor because he had rejected her attempts to seduce him. Fast forward two years, when Sailor is let out of jail. Marietta orders Lula not to see Sailor, but instead Sailor and Lula run off together, breaking Sailor's parole. They spend most of the rest of the film on the run from both the law and men that Marietta sends after them. I guess that's as close to as a summary as I can get, though there's a lot of other weird stuff going.
It's difficult for me to rate or review this film since I really don't understand it. Maybe I'll revise this review once I understand it more (if that ever happens). The music is, as always, fantastic, scored by Angelo Badalamenti. It's a mix of metal, hard rock, 50's soft rock, jazz, and swing. Cage, Dern, and Ladd are all fantastic. Willem Defoe plays a skeezy two-bit criminal who shows disgusting teeth to make me never want to kiss anyone ever again (but this time his teeth were actually supposed to be bad so it's ok). Lynch keeps you on your toes and certainly produces an interesting visual experience. There's a Wizard of Oz theme throughout the film that I'm still trying to figure out. My final take on this movie is, if you're the kind of person who likes to stay up all night trying to figure out the meaning of a piece of art (like me), see it. If you like everything to be laid out nice and neat, don't. Chances are you will never completely figure out this movie (if you do, call me). But hey, life is a journey, not a destination, right?
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