The way the film plays, it's like they don't even exist when they're not with each other.

Considering how evil Marietta seems, those six years that Lula is living with her must have been awful. Sailor's two prison sentences pass quickly, we never see Lula suffering with her mother, or Sailor's trials in prison. It's notable that Lynch basically skips over any sections where they aren't together. Sailor and Lula are anchored by their love, and that allows them to pass through their various trials relatively unscathed. A lot of bad stuff happens along the way, but there's very little of the extreme psychological angst that plagues the characters in his FWWM, MD or IE. Wild at Heart is notable for being one of the least complicated Lynch films. Wild at Heart has a lot of Lynchian stuff, but feels more like a one off fun project than a critical personal statement. We see his themes evolve and him move from a straightforward narrative to stories based entirely on dream logic.

Looking at the overall progression of Lynch's career, there's a pretty clear line from Blue Velvet->Twin Peaks->Fire Walk With Me->Lost Highway->Mulholland Dr.->Inland Empire. My initial opinion has been radically revised, it's a great movie, though a minor work in Lynch's overall canon. I saw it again last year on DVD and liked it more so I bought my own copy and rewatched it again yesterday. It dragged quite a bit, and I never got caught up in the world of the film. I first saw Wild at Heart on an old VHS copy, and I didn't particularly like it.

Wild at heart film mr. reindeer