TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992) **

I saw this back in college with the intention of watching the TV show immediately afterwards.  It was such a dud that I immediately lost interest in watching the series.  Flash forward to last month when David Lynch passed away.  I decided to finally watch the original show as a tribute to him, and as it turned out, I loved it.  Afterwards, I figured I’d give Fire Walk with Me another chance.  I thought this time with the series fresh in my mind, it would change my feelings about the movie. 

Nope.  It’s still a big disappointment. 

Part of the problem with Fire Walk with Me is that it’s a prequel, and if you’ve seen the show (or at least know about it), you probably already know how it’s going to turn out.  All the buzz around who killed Laura Palmer made the show must see TV back in the day.  Watching this knowing who the killer is doesn’t help.  It also doesn’t help that it’s essentially one long death knell as we are watching the last days of a sad, broken teenage girl.  While it fills in the gaps of what happened the night Laura died, we never really learn anything about her.  Despite Sheryl Lee’s best efforts (she cries, screams, and snorts coke in nearly every scene), it’s all for naught as she’s so thinly written that she never becomes a three-dimensional character. 

Much of the problem is that it never really feels much like the show.  I know Lynch was working with a bigger canvas here, but the movie is missing the quirky charm and humor that made the show a cult hit.  The closest it comes ironically enough is in the prologue that isn’t set in Twin Peaks where FBI agents Chris Isaak and Kiefer Sutherland investigate a murder.  This stretch at least has some of the show’s peculiarity.  It doesn’t help though that Isaak literally disappears, and David Bowie is completely wasted in one scene. 

Another issue is that many characters from the show are conspicuously absent or are reduced to meaningless cameos.  Kyle MacLachlan is particularly wasted, which I guess makes sense, but it leaves you feeling shortchanged.  (His interaction with Miguel Ferrer is good though.)

Oh well, at least the first season is flawless and the second is mostly great.  Maybe I will feel different about Fire Walk with Me after I watch The Return.  I highly doubt it though.