Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Although it has since garnered a strong following, particularly in light of an oft-rumored director's cut, David Lynch's feature film prequel to his woefully short-lived smash hit TV series "Twin Peaks" was initially a critical and commercial failure. Due to the length restrictions of a feature film, Fire Walk with Me (1992) could not follow the serial ensemble format allowed by 30 installments of a one-hour show. In the show, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and the search for her killer were simply Lynch's sleight of hand that allowed the real meat of the show to flourish: the complex underbelly and hidden interconnections of the Washington small town. "Twin Peaks" amounted to a highly developed, multi-faceted character study. For its part, FWwM is also a character-study at its core, but the subject list has been narrowed down to one: Laura Palmer, the un-character, the proverbial silent partner.

Other problems beset the production: some actors declined to reprise their roles, most problematically Lara Flynn Boyle as Laura's best friend Donna. Admittedly, Moira Kelly fills Boyle's shoes admirably, but the shock of a 'new' Donna persists throughout the film. Others missing in action: the brilliant Richard Beymer as developer Ben Horne and Sherilyn Fenn as his daughter Audrey, as well as Piper Laurie as the devious Catherine Martell. Far more common, though, were those actors conscripted to reprise their roles, but whose scenes were ultimately left on the cutting room floor: the entire Twin Peaks Sheriffs Department, Josie Packard, Pete Martell, Big Ed and the one-eyed Nadine, and Major Garland Briggs. It was only after some cajoling that Lynch managed to convince Kyle MacLachlan, the iconic Agent Dale Cooper, to return, albeit in a limited role.

The film opens in Oregon, a year prior to the murder of Laura Palmer. FBI Agents Desmond (Chris Isaak) and Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland) are investigating the brutal murder of young drifter Theresa Banks. Hot on the trail of the killer, one night Agent Desmond simply vanishes without a trace. Well, thank god, because I thought we might be subjected to an entire movie's worth of Chris Isaak's wooden acting and stilted dialogue. Stick to singing, buddy. Please. Fast forward a year, and we are transported to Twin Peaks in the weeks leading up to Laura Palmer's death. Much of the film is an episodic look at those final days, filling fans in on many details that were hinted at during the course of the show. What was Laura really like? What secrets did she take to her grave? It most reminded me of JFK, where the core audience already knows the ending (JFK assassinated, Laura Palmer murdered), but the film fills us in on those little details of how everything came about.

While the TV series certainly had its jarring, disturbing, and dark moments, the show was largely flushed out by the quirky, the strange, the romantic, and the funny. There's not much to laugh at in FWwM. The tone is unrelentingly dark, the visuals largely based on terror and revulsion, as we follow Laura's drug-and-sex-addled descent into a hell partly of her own making, populated by demons both of this world (the gross and lecherous Jacques Renault, the brutal Leo Johnson), and of another world (the soul-collecting beings known as Bob and Mike). I think this lack of a light-hearted diversion, of a Cooper-style protagonist, hurt this film's initial reception. While it is by no means a bad film, it was not the type of film that "Twin Peaks" fans were looking for.

For those fans who are willing to take a chance on something a little different, there are certainly plenty of familiar faces to ease the transition. We of course get to see more of the strangely attractive and quite talented Sheryl Lee as Laura. Fans will rejoice in larger roles for both Frank Silva as Bob, and Michael J. Anderson as the backwards-talking, dancing, diminutive Man from Another Place. And Angelo Badalamenti again creates a masterful score, taking his cue from the altered tone of the film, making his music darker, much more ominous.

As I said, it's not a bad film, but it's not a great film either. The unrelenting bleakness makes for difficult watching. And there are a few dead-end storylines that enter onto the scene inexplicably and just as mysteriously fade away, leaving the audience uncomfortably dangling. Lynch and screenwriter Robert Engels had initially envisioned a series of films centering around the mythology of the Black Lodge, each with a different protagonist. Two of the protagonists were Agent Desmond and Agent Jeffries (David Bowie) who makes a brief and baffling appearance in this film. When FWwM tanked, the rest of the planned series went with it, and Agents Desmond and Jeffries remained as dangling references never fulfilled.

Storyline & plot: 6/10
Cinematography & effects: 7/10
Music & mood: 7/10
Performances: 6/10

The Reverend says: 6/10