A brilliant attempt...that ultimately fails

Rating: 6/10 (18 January 2002)

The acting is very good. The movie has poignant moments of great drama, does a great job of instilling a feeling of suspense, fear and dread, and makes you care about the characters and what is happening in their lives. But then... (Conceptual spoilers that reveal a key plot twist by means of a metaphorical example follow)...you discover that all that wasn't real.
Imagine you go to see a movie, and you really start to like it. You get really interested in the plot, which is both intricate and mysterious. You start to really care for the characters. You get really involved in what is happening. The characters begin to work things out, to solve their problems. It seems that a climactic resolution of the principle story arcs is about to be consumated. But then it is revealed, that you were actually just watching actors who were making a movie, and the movie you are watching now concerns itself with the lives of those actors. That would be quite a jarring non-resolution to the story you thought you were watching, would it not? You would likely feel that such a "plot twist," while clever, was ultimately unsatisfying, like heavy petting that almost goes all the way, only to be interrupted by the discovery that your partner's gender is not what you thought it was. Well, that's what it's like watching Mulholland Drive.
It takes more than good casting, great acting, excellent cinematography, good editing, inspired directing and interesting events to make a good movie. It also takes a plot and a screen play that doesn't tease the audience in the wrong way. As proof of this thesis, I give you Mulholland Drive.