Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) Review

 "I'm blank as a fart."

-Jacques Renault

The Twin Peaks movie follows two different storylines.  The first follows a pair of FBI agents investigating the murder of Teresa Banks (Pamela Gidley).  The second follows the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) as BOB (Frank Silva) closes in on her.

What Works:

As with all of the works of David Lynch that I've seen, I really like the surreal aspects.  His work often has a dreamlike feel and, in this case, it feels more like a nightmare.  The strange and otherworldly aspects of Twin Peaks are always interesting, even if I don't always know what they mean.

I really like the first part of this movie with the two FBI agents investigating the murder of Teresa Banks.  I actually would have preferred if the whole movie had been about them.  Chris Isaak and Kiefer Sutherland play the agents and I really like both of them.  It's a little bit of the opposite of Twin Peaks.  When Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) arrived in Twin Peaks, he was mostly greeted with open arms, especially by law enforcement.  That's the opposite in this movie.  The police treat them with outright hostility and the townsfolk they meet are definitely rougher around the edges than the townsfolk of Deer Meadows.  The duality is interesting and fits within the themes of the show.  To this day I am fascinated with the fate of Isaak's character and am dying to know what happened to him.

I'm actually very happy Lara Fynn Boyle didn't return as Donna.  I've never liked her in the role.  Moira Kelly gives a much more sympathetic and likable performance.

Finally, most of the acting is really good.  Sheryl Lee gives a tortured performance and gives it her all.  Ray Wise, Harry Dean Stanton, Dana Ashbrook, Lenny Von Dohlen, and Grace Zabriskie all do a great job and bring a lot of emotion to some really dark scenes.

What Sucks:

I'll be honest, I've seen this movie four times and I've never really liked it.  I respect what David Lynch was going for and I think he mostly succeeds, but I really don't like watching it.  This is a mostly miserable film to sit through.  It's mean, nasty, and horrible.  There are elements in the show that can be nasty and horrible, but it's not the entire show.  We get a lot more quirkiness and likable characters in the show that gives us a break from the darkness.  It doesn't get overwhelming.  There really isn't anything like that once we get into the Laura Palmer part of the movie.  Again, I understand that's what Lynch was going for, but that doesn't mean I have to like watching it.

I mentioned the likable characters in the show that help keep the darkness at bay.  Once we get into the Laura section of the story, the only likable character for miles is Donna.  Of course we're not supposed to like most of these characters, and that's fine, but even our protagonist, Laura, is tough to be around.  We're told in the show that she is just the most wonderful person.  Everyone loved Laura, but we don't get any of that in the show.  She treats Bobby, James (James Marshall), and Donna all poorly.  I think the movie would have been more effective if we had more time showing the positive scenes between Laura and her friends.  Instead it's just endless misery.

Finally, the first time I watched this, I found it especially disappointing.  I had just finished the show for the first time and this was several years before The Return was announced.  I knew this movie was it.  The end of the road.  I didn't know what to expect, but I was hoping to see some of Cooper, Sheriff Truman, Audrey, and Pete.  Only Cooper appears and he only has a handful of scenes.  The other 3 aren't in the movie.  And with the last thing we saw of Pete and Audrey being the bank explosion, it's pretty devastating.  For a long time, this was the last chance at closure and we didn't get any.  I understand that wasn't the story Lynch wanted to tell with this film and that he was planning sequels, but it didn't happen that way.  I definitely don't dislike this movie as much as I did the first time due to The Return existing, but I still don't like it.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the movie.  For Fire Walk with Me, this Award goes to Bobby Briggs for managing to kill Deputy Cliff (Rick Aiello) when Cliff drew a gun on him.  He also managed to hide the body and wasn't caught.  This is Bobby's 2nd time winning this Award.

Verdict:

I have respect for this movie and I'm glad David Lynch got to make the movie he wanted to make.  I really like the first part of the movie, but the rest of this is just miserable to sit through.  I don't think it's a bad movie, but it's not what I wanted and ultimately just isn't my cup of tea.

 5/10: Ick