Friday, February 14, 2014

Burning Love: Wilder Napalm

It is only a mild burn.  Valentine's Day is alot of work.  I don't mean having to buy flowers or anything like that.  No, the challenge is finding a twisted love story to review each year.  

I have already done a film about rape/kidnapping, a movie about a figurine coming to life, a film about a man in love with a corpse and, lastly, a film about how love is just plain awful.  
Belgium is a bleak place.  

So let me lighten the mood with a film about love, loss and many explosions.  Yeah, that will do it.  Today's film is Wilder Napalm, an oft-forgotten film about a pair of brothers with pyrokinesis and the women in between them.  I bet even Maynard (link now defunct) hasn't done this film.  

There are two brothers- one good and one bad.  When they both end up together again, the woman that one is already married to is bound to get caught in the crossfire.  
See what I did there?!?  I'm hilarious.  

Is the film though?  Will the comedic duo of Jim Varney and Dennis Quaid do the trick?  To find out, read on...
Quaid- disguised for a while under this clown make-up- plays Wallace.  

He's a bad guy who wants to get famous for his pyrokinesis.
In contrast, his brother Wilder has settled down in a dead-end job and is married.  

Unfortunately, his wife really wants him to be more responsive and outgoing.  I can't see where this is going.
Sure enough, the Circus that Wallace works for comes to town.  

He hasn't seen Wilder in about five years, so it is not exactly a happy reunion.
The wife is finally out of house arrest- for starting a fire- and wants to go out.  

Her husband is too busy and decides to work.  

That leaves an opening for...
Wallace to make his move.  

As the sexual tension rises, physical heat begins to emanate.  Sodas bubble (do they?), ice cream melts and the whole place finally burns down.
When Wilder finds out, he's naturally pissed.  

This leads to a showdown between the two pyrokinesis users that ends indecisively...and with all three of the people in jail.
Naturally, we get one more big face-off.  All sorts of shit gets set on fire and many explosions ensue.

We also get to see the rare Chekov's Suit (a fire-proof suit showed one time at the beginning and important for the end).
Flame on!

Sorry, I couldn't resist.
In the End, the brothers make peace.  

The couple live happily ever after and Wallace ends up a celebrity that appears on Letterman...although it isn't shown.

Why mention it then?!?
The End.
It is the good kind of burn.  I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this movie.  I vaguely recalled the premise from long ago (the film came out when I was 10), but that's it.  I had no idea what the tone or style would be.  

Having gone in mostly-blind, I was surprised how much I liked it.  It is weird and silly- granted.  The film really just embraces its offbeat tone and makes the most of it.  
Singing Firemen- check.  
Lady who wants to have sex on the roof- check.  
Jim Varney as a Carney- big check!  

It is quirky as all hell, which certainly limits the audience a bit.  That said, I enjoyed this weird love triangle involving two pyrokinetic users, a traveling Circus and, once again, singing Firemen.  You may too.
Next up, a completely-crazy film from Japan.  I know that doesn't narrow it down- just deal with it!  Stay tuned...

1 comment:

  1. Nope, I haven't done this one. Hell, I haven't even heard of it, but from what I see and read, it sounds right up my alley. We should do something like a "Project Weird" sometime in the future ;-)

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