Genius or not genius, this is the question

Rating: 3/10 (21 September 2011)

*** not "may" - this review contains spoilers ***
The movie doesn't tell a linear story, but gives unconnected self-contradicting puzzle pieces that give the viewer little clue about what is going on. Unfortunately the film makes the viewer believe half way through the movie that it was linear. It is not telling that it is a puzzle up till an abrupt ending, where nothing is revealed. Thus leaving the viewer as puzzled as the story.
So much for the content. I disclaim the following is a personal impression and you may (and possibly will) judge otherwise.
Some believe Lynch is a genius and the movie is his "masterpiece" - yet, I'm not so sure.
This work has many parallels to a guy I went to school with. He had put up an art exhibition. His "masterpiece" was the an old lady's hat stand glued to a stick that he had put nails in to fixate drawers. But his woodworking was so bad, you were not allowed to touch as you could either harm yourself with a splinter or destroy the thing all together. As the work made no sense to the audience he explained it as being his "interpretation to the suffering of women in modern society".
Ignoring the fact that he was a guy, 16, never had a girlfriend and no idea what the suffering of women would be - some visitors claimed him to be a genius, while most kids said he was just a little soft in the head.
Same with this movie. Some people say Lynch is a genius while others say he is just crazy.
I think both is not true. The movie has a good story with some interesting elements, but Lynch is cryptic for being cryptic. Story and characters lack depth and at some points have a hard time transporting emotions. He is unable to transport the characters struggle with insanity and guilt. His setup of a gay relationship between the main characters is not convincing at all. Two heterosexual girls suddenly turning gay because one girl has slept on the other girl's couch for 2 nights? If that were true I would have seen many Catholics sweating blood before sending their kids to a youth hostel. It all becomes an old man's wet dream when the girl turns out to be bisexual and non-monogamous. The story may have made sense in Lynch's head but just as with the kid his actual woodworking is terrible and viewers have a hard time seeing what he was trying to say.
I would suggest: if you write something that makes sense in your head and one year later you look at your work and don't remember what it was you were thinking that day - it's not art. It's been just you celebrating your own ingeniousness.
The story may have been a great idea that turned out to be a mediocre movie. But it's no more an ingenious masterpiece than a bunch of drawers nailed to a hat stand.