CONVOLUTED BUT COMPELLING

Rating: 7/10 (13 April 2002)

If you appreciate good cinematography, direction and like to drift into dreams this is the movie for you. It is confusing and convoluted but compelling. The movie should be seen in the theater to appreciate the beauty of the filming but you have to rent it later if you hope to make any sense of it.
Part of the problem yet an incredibly unique idea is having the cast play different roles in what are sometimes dream sequences, sometimes flashbacks and sometimes just the regular story. Which by the way isn't really that much. The two leads are involved in a lesbian relationship which Watts takes more seriously and gets dumped when Harring gets to be full fledged star. So naturally she hires a hit man to kill her ex-lover and the film actually starts with the botched attempt on Harring's life.
Then the dreams and flashbacks come along with the audience left to figure out what order they belong in.
I've heard Lynch described as surrealistic by some while others say he just clips portions of a movie together in any sequence to seem "artsy".

I don't know the answer to that but I have to say Lynch is consistently confusing and this film is typical of his work but certainly superior to the vastly overrated "Blue Velvet"/
I gave this 7 out 10 bearing in mind that it should be seen twice or more. 2 1/2 out 4 if you are at the theater and don't want to bother.