Brilliant! All makes sense after a couple of viewings

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2002)

First of all, I am not a big David Lynch fan, and have dismissed most of his other works as quirky without purpose. But since Mulholland Drive accomplished the rare feat of showing for FIVE MONTHS on a local screen here in Portland, I figured there must be something to it. Sure enough, this time there is method to his madness ...
***SLIGHT POSSIBLE SPOILER FOLLOWS***: On the first viewing I couldn't understand the meaning of the sudden shift in characters and scene about 2/3 of the way through the movie. But once I got the basic meaning of the two segments of the movie (as illuminated well by other reviewers) and watched it a second time, it all made sense. ALL OF IT. Every character, every scene, every prop had its purpose and it all made sense as a cohesive whole. Don't get me wrong, it's still a LOT of work to put all the pieces into place, but ultimately I don't think it's that hard to understand.
It is hard not to compare this movie to Memento, which also presents things in a non-linear sequence and challenges the viewer to sort it all out. With Memento I'm not sure you can ever be absolutely sure what happened (though we all have our ideas), but with Mulholland Drive, there's no question. All secrets are revealed once you discover the deceptively simple key. Great work, Mr. Lynch!

Dan