Provocative and mesmerizing! The best ride at the theme park!

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 2002)

I'm not going to give away the the plot details of the story like so many other reviewers have done here because I honestly feel that doing so will only undermine the artistry and impact of this film. But I have to say that I am completely flabbergasted by how many people did not get this movie! So many of today's movies want to be so blatantly obvious, and force their linear stories down our throats. I'm so tired of watching predictable plots that have neither substance nor appeal. And what makes me even crazier is that most of the studios, and worse yet many directors (and some actors) are convinced that this is what we all want! They think we're all babies that need to be spoon-fed a story in excruciating detail, instead of letting us connect-the-dots on our own! Then along comes this obscure little movie that I hardly knew anything about. I expected it to be pretty much the same as all the rest of those boring movies. Boy was I in for a surprise! All at once I get thrown into this abstract dream sequence that keeps me transfixed from beginning to end. So much so, that I couldn't sleep and I had to watch the movie again to try to fit the pieces together. That same night I had a long weird dream of my own. And I was suddenly reminded that our own dreams don't always make much sense either. Well, then the whole movie finally made sense to me! In this movie David Lynch shows us how every subtle detail of
our lives can wander into our sub-conscious. The people in our lives, as well as those on the periphery. The strangers that we see, but don't really notice. The stories we hear. Or the conversations that we accidentally (or perhaps purposely) eavesdrop. Our hopes and expectations, our disappointments, our fantasies can all appear in our dreams as some sort of twisted tale that winds in and out of our deepest thoughts, our most secret feelings, and even our gritty reality. Everything we know about ourselves, and even that which we cannot or will not admit to ourselves can be stolen from our sub-conscious mind and somehow wind up in our most vivid dreams. So for those of you who didn't get this movie, open your eyes! For every question that you may have about this movie, the answer is right there within the movie itself. The director leaves clues everywhere! If you just look hard enough. David Lynch practically spoon-feeds us the all of the details - just not in such an obvious way. He did what no other director is willing to do? He makes us work out the story for ourselves...with our own insights and interpretations. And I find that to be the best part of this movie...the fact that the director forces me to be a participant! Finally, I got to be the lead detective in the story! Watch this movie again and again. It gets better every time! And you will "get it" at some point. And even if you don't...oh, what a beautiful and intriguing ride it is! Laura Harring is astonishingly mesmerizing as the mysterious damsel/femme fatal! Naomi Watts is absolutely unforgettable!