Quite a ride.

Rating: 7/10 (15 March 2007)

The female leads in this movie really shine. While Naomi Watts and Laura Harring both excel, I find myself wondering why Ms Harring has not had more big roles in recent times as she is obviously a very talented and beautiful actress. I also thought that Anne Miller was well cast as the apartment block manager and she displayed a great deal of that "Hollywood charm" that is completely lacking in modern cinema.
David Lynch as a director is quite special. The way he layers a story and his quirky photography make it obvious who is at the reins here. But as he he done many times before, he forgets that the cinema is first and foremost a place to tell a story. If one makes a story difficult to follow that doesn't always make it art. Lynch is capable of telling a great story with films like "The Elephant Man", but he's gone off on a bender here trying to appease God knows who.
There will be many who didn't understand the film trying to point out out the genius, the relevance or even the brilliance of this movie, but they are kidding themselves. It is painfully obvious that a re-edit of this film, while removing some of Lynch's style, would transform this film into the masterpiece it could have been. As it stands, watching Mulholland Dr. is too difficult and asks too much of its audience.
Despite all of these shortcomings, I actually liked the film as I thought the actors did an incredible job. It's just that it could have been so much better. It could have been a classic.