Wilder Napalm

Dennis Quaid has always been a servicable enough actor. For the most part, he has made a career of getting by on his good looks and charm. Seriously, have you ever said, "Hey, let's go see that new Dennis Quaid movie?" I love it though whan an actor like Quaid takes a chance and goes over the top. This is when he shines. Since he has a new show, The Art Of More, debuting this week on Crackle, I thought I would take a look back at one of his craziest performances. The movie is 1993's Wilder Napalm.

Quaid plays Wallace, a carnival clown who has the power to start fires with his mind. He shares this power with his estranged brother Wilder, Arliss Howard. The two have kept their power a secret due to a childhood incident that accidentally killed a hobo and caused Wilder to lose his hair. The two are also at odds because they are both in love with Vida, Debra Winger, who just happens to be a pyromaniac. She chose and married Wilder which really burns Wallace, bad pun.

Wallace wants to use his powers for fame and brings his carnival to Wilder's hometown to break the news and hopefully steal Vida away. Vida, who happens to be on house arrest for her fire starting tendencies, feels neglected when Wilder won't take her out on her first night of freedom.This is when Wallace steps in and makes his move. He offers her excitement that Wilder can't. Wilder's life is hum drum. He's a photo booth clerk and volunteer firefighter, who mostly puts out fires started by his wife. To win her back and stop his evil brother, Wilder will need to resort to his special power.

This really is Quaid's movie. His performance as Wallace is both funny and a little scary. Winger and Howard, who are married in real life, are good, but Quaid definately has the flashier role. Jim "Ernest" Varney is also really good as one of Wallace's carny cronies.

This was the first script written by Vince Gilligan, who 15 years later would create Breaking Bad. It's nice to see that his dark sense of humor carried over. Another big name in television, Glenn Gordon Caron, directed. He was the man behind Moonlighting in the 80's.

Definately worth checking out, especially for Quaid's whacked out performance. It's on dvd and streaming on Crackle this month.