TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
A film review by Chuck Dowling
Copyright 1996 Chuck Dowling
NO STARS - C:Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Kiefer Sutherland, Kyle MacLachlin, Madchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook, David Bowie, Eric DaRe, Miguel Ferrer, Heather Graham, Chris Issac, Moira Kelly, Peggy Lipton, James Marshall, Jurgen Prochnow, Harry Dean Stanton, Lenny von Dohlen, Grace Zabriskie, Frank Silva, Walter Olkewicz, Al Strobel.
I was a big fan of the ABC television series, and most likely the only one according to the ratings. (Well, my mom watched it too but we both watched it on the same TV so that really doesn't count now does it?) I was also one of the first in line the day the film opened. After watching it, I can safely say that I have never come out of a theater angry, as I did that day. Not disappointed, but angry. The first twenty minutes of the film were quite promising, but after that it's one of the worst films of all time, regardless if you are a fan of the TV show or not.
The TV show was really all about a murder in a small town and the investigation which followed. The show lasted a year and a half, and the final episode ended with a cliffhanger. So when It was announced that a feature film was being made, I was more than overjoyed. Well guess what, the film turns out to be a prequel to the TV show and just shows in detail (and I do mean detail) the events that happened the week before the murder. These are events that we already knew about and were satisfied with the way they were presented. There was no reason to make this film about those events. What writer/ director /creator David Lynch should have done is to continue on with the show from the final episode instead of retreading on familiar material.
Halfway through this mess, the film seems to jump forward in time, but then again not really. Anyway, a reference is made to the cliffhanger ending and you would think that would mean that eventually, before the film is over, that plot line will be resolved. It's not. It's not even really mentioned again. I think Lynch slipped that scene into the film so that the audience wouldn't walk out, that bastard.
Twin Peaks:Fire Walk With Me is loaded with contradictions from the TV show, and unnecessary language, violence, nudity, and sex. The hero of the TV series, cool FBI agent Dale Cooper (MacLachlin) is reduced to a mere cameo. The only good thing about the film is the score. This was easily the worst film from all of 1992. It was even booed when it was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, and deservedly so.
There are many other problems I had with the film, but thay are all plot specific and only people who watched both the show and the film would understand them. If your interested, email me at chuckd21@southeast.net and I'll discuss them with you in detail.
-- Chuck Dowling
Please visit my movie reviews web site at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ You'll be glad you did.
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