From: schultz@unixg.ubc.ca (Stewart Schultz)
Subject: Re: Just saw FWWM (possible *SPOILERS*)
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 22:48:01 GMT

In article <wiljo.714586757@kiel.UUCP> wiljo@kiel.uucp (Wiljo Heinen) 
writes:

>Now we cometh to the movie. (if you hate spoilers, now is the chance of
>pressing "n".

^L

>135 mins is just *too short* for TP like story-telling.

Yep...but a lot of the violence (especially the Laura murder details)
was cut.  Not that more violence would have amounted to more
story-telling :-).  I think Lynch basically wrote the movie assuming
avid TP fans as the main audience, which made plot and character
development largely unecessary, since we already know all these
people and what's about to happen to them.

>Also the hyped-about Laura-killing scene
>seemed to me less violent (or on about the same level) as Maddy's killing.

This was a big disappointment to me....this was the climax of the
movie, the whole reason for the series, etc., and it's such a cop-out
I can't even recall the details of the scene.

>Biggest disappointment to me was Moira Kelly (sp?) as Donna.

I didn't like the original Donna much myself...sort of came across
as a spoiled twit, especially towards the end.  I think Moira would
have been OK if they attempted anything resembling character
development in this movie.

>more disappointments: Lynch put in a whole bunch of the TP actors, just to 
make
>the movie TP-ish: Norma, Shelly, the Log Lady -- we all see them for a few
>seconds/ half a minute most. They add nothing to the movie's plot, just
>clutter up the list of actors and leave you with the hollow feeling, that
>Mr.Lynch either shouldn't have put them in or given them a chance to 
>act meaningful. Like Shelly's only task is to load the "meals" into Laura's
>"wheels". Well no ... we see her getting shown the art of floor scrubbing
>by Leo. And Norma: the only two seconds (well-- maybe ten) of her is to
>_order_ Shelly to put the meals into Laura's van.

Agreed.  To work all these in though, you'd need another subplot
and an extra hour.  I liked seeing them though, they're sort of icons.
I was told by some people who lived across the street from the trailer
park used as the "Fat Trout Trailer Park" that big Ed had a part in the
movie as well...a building across from the trailer park was redecorated
as his gas station.  This obviously was cut from the movie, probably
for the reasons you say.

>more disappointments: Kyle MacLachlan: totally colorless.

Yep, but he seemed to be doing it under protest anyway....he was reluctant to 
participate even in the second TV season.  I'm sure that had he been more 
amenable they would have worked him into the story to the fans' content.

>Storyline: The death of Teresa Banks: gives a few new insights and 
>question marks. Has potential for further development along the
>"owls" line. Is a bit lost in the movie though. I very much like
>Kiefer Sutherlands part in it though.  Lynch could have elaborated
>on that first part of the movie and made it into another 2hr movie.

Easily!  Although Chris Isaak's acting is a bit flat and unconvincing.  Keifer 
Sutherland's role I think was the most pleasant surprise of the movie, and I 
would have loved to see this part extended another half hour.  The interplay 
between Sutherland and Isaak was hilarious.  And of course, the BIG 
QUESTION:  What happened to Isaak??  Maybe another sequel is in order...I 
think it would have great potential.

>(As other ppl. allready sad: Bowie just turns up, so that they can
>put him on the list of actors. Talks a bit about the "convenience store"
>and that he visited "them" there). But this TB part has some very
>Lynchian pictures to it. 

The video monitor scene was great!  As well as something that you would 
have completely missed in Germany:  Bowie had a southern accent!!!  
Absolutely flawless....you couldn't have guessed he's a Brit.  Just one
of those hilarious Lynchian surprises.

>The last sven days of LP: Great ! I love it. Now we get to see the _real_
>Laura. These roughle 1.5 hrs give completely new angles to Laura Palmer.
>OK -- we all knew that she had "secrets", but during the series the
>"calm, lovely" homecoming queen was the emphasize put on Laura. It is
>one thing to know she was taking cocain, working/thrown out at One Eyed
>"sexualy active" and such, but actually seeing it makes a difference.
>(could ponder more on that, but should be trying to be brief)

Pretty one-dimensional and predictable, however.  Snorting coke, drinking, 
recreational sex was extremely well done in terms of cinematography and 
mood, but it didn't really say anything about Laura we didn't already 
know....it would have been nice to see some real conflict.  Her reactions to 
Leland/Bob seemed overdone and not convincing to me....Leland was just not 
disturbing in the least (but maybe that's because I had just met Ray Wise 
the afternoon I saw the movie, at the TP festival in Snoqualmie :-) 
But I will say I was impressed with her acting overall.

>In FWWM you get to see more of the TP town (roads, neighbourhoods
>and such). Now _that_ was weird to me.

I'll tell you what's really weird -- that's seeing the movie while the cast is 
sitting directly in front of you a couple rows, then walking out the theater 
into the moonlit streets of the -real- TP, the cast following you.  
Then next day tooling around Snoqualmie and seeing the real trailer park, 
high school, diner etc.  The feel of Snoqualmie/North Bend is exactly as 
in the movie...it's eerie to say the least.

I am a bit disappointed with the movie, however.  Overall it seemed rushed 
and cursory.  There's so much that could have been explored, in nightmarish 
detail.  But I still think it's better than most of this summer's film crop.

-S. Schultz