Mulholland Drive Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)January 14th, 2002
MULHOLLAND DR. (2001) / ****
Directed by David Lynch, from his screenplay. Starring Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Justin Theroux. Running time: 146 minutes. Rated AA for sexual content and controversial subject matter by the MFCB. Reviewed on January 13th, 2002.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: A woman (Harring) barely escapes being murdered and stumbles into the house about to be occupied by chipper young actress Betty Elms (Watts). Betty befriends the amnesiac woman, who adopts the name Rita, and agrees to help her uncover her identity. Elsewhere, an aggressive director (Theroux) finds his current production has come under the control of nefarious forces. A man discovers his worst nightmare made manifest behind a fast-food restaurant. And the search for Rita's past conjures up only greater, stranger mysteries.
Review: I obviously don't dream the way David Lynch does; "Mulholland Dr." makes me very glad of that. For this is a movie about a dream: a dream of Hollywood glory, dreamed by someone lost in its dark side. It is a dream which is bizarre, scary, quirky and ponderous all at once, and it is a dream with Lynch's stylised fingerprints all over it. There are mysterious characters, unnatural phenomena, numerous subplots which seem tangentially related -- and that's just in the first 100 minutes, which were intended to form a pilot for a TV series. It's in the last half hour, made just for the cinema, that things get truly weird, but really Lynch has seized the chance to transform "Mulholland Dr." from a "Twin Peaks"-ish commentary on the veneer of Hollywood into something far more complex and fascinating. (Unfortunately, some artefacts of its television origins remain, notably several disappearing characters who are almost pointless here, but doubtless would have had an expanded role in a subsequent series.) Lynch coaxes stunning performances from his stars, particularly Watts, who delivers an almost schizophrenic portrayal of two (sort of) different characters. Be warned: "Mulholland Dr." demands thorough post-viewing analysis -- indeed, at first I was underwhelmed. With reflection, though, the brilliance of Lynch's design has come madly into focus.
Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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