Taglines: Never start a romance you can’t put out.
Wilder Napalm movie storyline. Wilder and Wallace are brothers and pyrokinetics. Ever since childhood they’ve been able to start fires with their minds but following a tragedy in which they accidentally killed a man, the brothers have grown up very differently. Wilder has become a regular 9-5 workaday joe but Wallace performs his feats with a traveling circus. When the circus comes to Wilder’s home town Wallace starts coming on strong to Wilder’s wife, Vida who, ironically, is a slight pyromaniac.
Wilder Napalm is a 1993 American romantic comedy film about a pair of pyrokinetic brothers and their rivalry for the same woman. The film was directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, and stars Debra Winger, Dennis Quaid, Arliss Howard, Jim Varney, Mimi Lieber, M. Emmet Walsh, Justin LaBlanc, Lance Lee Baxley, Daniel Hagen aro Charles Gideon Davis.
Film Review for Wilder Napalm
Just about everybody and everything connected to “Wilder Napalm” (selected theaters) is terrible, starting with that title. Don’t expect a Vietnam movie. In fact, don’t expect a movie. Wilder (Arliss Howard) and Wallace (Dennis Quaid) are estranged brothers in the Cain and Abel mold, with a Stephen King-ish twist. Both have pyro-kinetic powers–they can will fires into roaring life. Wilder, who works part time as–you guessed it–a fireman, is married to Vida (Debra Winger), a doting free spirit. When Wallace shows up in town as a clown for a traveling circus, the brothers square off, with Vida as the prize.
Wilder, understandably, has a grudge against his brother, who scorched his pate hairless when they were kids. (He wears a wig for most of the movie but when he’s wigless, his dome has a melted plastic look that’s really icky.) Because the brothers accidentally incinerated someone when they were kids–they were never caught–Wilder has renounced his pyrotechnics.
That’s why he puts out fires as penance. The most he’ll do now is light Vida’s cigarettes. Wallace, however, wants to cash in on his gifts–he wants to call himself Dr. Napalm and appear on the David Letterman show, no less. (Since this film has been in the can since last year, one presumes this is the NBC and not the CBS Letterman.)
Directed by Glenn Gordon Caron and scripted by Vince Gilligan, “Wilder Napalm” (rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some sensuality) is the sort of full-fledged disaster that talented filmmakers occasionally perpetrate in pursuit of the “offbeat.” Maybe the idea of two enraged brothers expressing their conflicts by torching each other seemed intriguing on paper; it’s a perfectly OK metaphorical conceit. But on screen it just seems ugly–the film’s clunky carny atmosphere can’t contain images of immolation. Probably nothing could have saved this movie, but possibly a freakier, more metaphysical approach would have brought off some of the savagery. (Echoes of Sam Shepard’s plays, particularly “True West,” resound throughout.)
There are a few moments here and there: an a cappella chorus of firemen; a scene where Wallace and Vida embrace and the landscape around them goes up in flames. Howard and Winger look uncomfortable spinning their wheels but Dennis Quaid works up a ribald cruelty in a few sequences. You can believe this man wills fire. But most of the time you wish this film would self-incinerate.
Wilder Napalm (1993)
Directed by: Glenn Gordon Caron
Starring: Debra Winger, Dennis Quaid, Arliss Howard, Jim Varney, Mimi Lieber, M. Emmet Walsh, Justin LaBlanc, Lance Lee Baxley, Daniel Hagen, Charles Gideon Davis
Screenplay by: Vince Gilligan
Production Design by: John Muto
Cinematography by: Jerry Hartleben
Film Editing by: Artie Mandelberg
Costume Design by: Louise Frogley
Set Decoration by: Leslie Bloom
Art Direction by: Dan Webster
Music by: Michael Kamen
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some sensuality.
Distributed by: TriStar Pictures
Release Date: August 20, 1993
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