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MULHOLLAND DRIVE Send This Review to a Friend
Writer-director David Lynch has never been a favorite filmmaker of mine (I thought that his "Eraserhead" was an overrated piece of pretentiousness), although I did find "Blue Velvet" arresting. His "Mulholland Drive," which was an attraction at the Toronto International Film Festival and then at the New York Film Festival, is intriguing for much of the way as it satirizes Los Angeles, Hollywood and the characters who inhabit the film world and its fringes, but then it veers into the metaphysical and collapses into a mishmash. It was originally planned for television, but after it was rejected Lynch shaped it into this feature film.
When "Mulholland Drive" works best, the screenplay by Lynch sets up amusing and bizarre situations involving an attractive, dark-haired woman in trouble (played with the right mystique by Laura Harring), who seems about to be bumped off by the occupants of the car in which she is riding. There's a fatal wreck, but she survives, although she doesn't remember who she is and takes refuge in an empty house. Soon a wide-eyed, enthusiastic aspiring actress named Betty, a blonde played by Naomi Watts, shows up. She has permission to stay there by the owner. The two are thus thrown together and encounter one strange circumstance after another, too convoluted to detail here. Other cast members include Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Robert Forster and Dan Hedaya.
The better parts are delivered with a wink, and there are some truly funny moments. The funniest line occurs after the two women are drawn to each other and when a bit of hanky panky begins in bed, one asks the woman with the memory loss whether she has ever done this before, and she replies, "I don't know." Lynch, as is his custom, gives the film a distinctive look through his use of settings, color and perspective.
His tour through bizarre situations and character portraits, spiced with mystery, provides fun for a while. But Lynch is Lynch. He eventually takes off into metaphysical wanderings with visuals and music to match--the sort of stuff that leads his fans to think they are experiencing something deep from a genius and drives others bananas as they wonder what the hell he has in mind. From this critic's perspective, Lynch's fantasies aren't worth pondering. "Mulholland Drive," after being entertaining a good part of the way, simply implodes into nonsensical filmmaking that doesn't rise to the level of being treated as interesting surrealism. But by all means, see for yourself. A Universal Focus release.
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