MULHOLLAND DRIVE

By: Carl Cortez
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001

The world of David Lynch is an acquired taste, something that served him well when he was considered a cult director (ERASERHEAD, BLUE VELVET) but tended to backfire when he experimented with the mainstream (DUNE).

It wasn't until 1990's TV phenomenon TWIN PEAKS that his quirky sensibilities found a wider audience, but aside from the drama of THE STRAIGHT STORY (1999), everything that followed that seminal series has seemed like an attempt to alienate even more any fan base he'd already created (look at LOST HIGHWAY for further proof).

Now comes MULHOLLAND DRIVE, a failed ABC pilot Lynch made two years ago that didn't get picked up. Thanks to foreign investors, he was given the money to finish off the story and prep it as a feature film. The result is one of Lynch's most satisfying works since TWIN PEAKS and one of his best films since BLUE VELVET.

The story plays out like most of Lynch's movies as a fever dream filled with contradictory images of innocence and malevolence darkness and light. It's set in Los Angles, though aside from the title, it's more about Lynch's fascination with what lies underneath the surface of seemingly everyday people who want to be trapped in a Norman Rockwell painting but in reality are trapped in a Jackson Pollack landscape.

Things are set into motion in MULHOLLAND DRIVE when

a mysterious woman (Laura Elena Harring) ends up in a car crash and wanders away with amnesia. She calls herself Rita and a budding young actress named Betty (Naomi Watts) who has just arrived into town takes her under her wing and tries to help her figure out who she is and what's she's really involved in. Thrown into the mix is offbeat, bratty director Adam (Justin Theroux) whose current film project has shut down because he refuses to hire the actress the investors are forcing him to use. This leads to some very funny scenes parodying the vapid Hollywood lifestyle and how ego and power sometimes take the forefront to logic.

Eventually though, the film takes a particularly cryptic and dark turn especially during its last half hour, which is obviously the bulk of the material shot to turn MULHOLLAND DRIVE into a feature film. Although challenging, it's a wholly intriguing, entertaining downhill slide into the harsh reality of Hollywood. Though it may not make sense at first glance, put the pieces together and it makes for a very satisfying and long-lasting movie-going experience.

In a way, the "pilot" portion of MULHOLLAND DRIVE and the newly added footage do seem like night and day. It's as if Lynch took the wide-eyed view of TWIN PEAKS and crammed it full of FIRE WALK WITH ME decadence. Yet, for its wildly varying tones, it works quite well.

The acting is topnotch, particularly Watts as Betty who has a really complicated role that requires some pretty heavy acting (and varying character traits) that she pulls off with ease. Her relationship with Rita is also quite entertaining, especially when it devolves into a rather steamy, full-blown love affair. Perhaps the biggest find in the film is Theroux. A supporting player who most recently appeared as the breakdance-fighting D.J. in ZOOLANDER, he totally shines as Adam. With his blank stare and wounded, puppy-dog eyes, Adam would have turned into DRIVE's Agent Cooper if the movie ended up being a series. It's fun to follow him just wandering from scene to scene, not sure what he's thinking and not sure what exactly he's going to do next.

I'm sure there will be audience members who will be thrown off by the film's sharp left turn during its finale, but by now people should know better when going into a David Lynch movie. He does things like no other director and while he continues to pursue similar themes film after film, MULHOLLAND DRIVE is the director at his most confident and consistent. In many ways, it's a shame this was never picked up as a series because the sanitized, almost fantasy world presented throughout most of the movie would have made for damn fine television. The characters are intriguing, the situation ripe for the picking and the actors primed for the long haul. It may have been no TWIN PEAKS, but then again, what could be? At least we can be grateful for what the would-be series is now a creepy, effective and completely unpredictable thriller about the sordid underbelly of L.A. life. And I'll take that over CORKY ROMANO any old day.

MULHOLLAND DRIVE

Grade: A-

Reviewed Format: Limited Release

Rated: R

Stars: Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller, Dan Hedaya, Robert Forster

Writer: David Lynch

Director: David Lynch

Distributor: Universal Focus