Sexy, Mysterious, and Thoroughly Lynch

Rating: 9/10 (9 October 2001)

David Lynch may be the sanest madman working in film today. He is a dark, sinister, and cynical overlord trapped in a world of Eisenhower-era optimism. At his best, Lynch can cast a long, menacing shadow of doom and dread over an idyllic and innocent tableau. And when he really excels, his films -- like "Blue Velvet" and "Wild at Heart" -- smolder with a psychosexual tension that's hotter than Georgia asphalt.
Immediately sexy and mysterious, "Mulholland Drive" plays with the conventions Lynch toyed with in the underrated "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" and in his truly bizarre "The Lost Highway". Characters are not whom they seem to be, lightness and darkness collide with a cool, enigmatic flicker, and people and objects vanish without a trace. Welcome to Lynch's world: a world that is simultaneously comforting and unsettling. But if you take a few deep breaths and relax, it's a strange world that you wish would extend beyond the film's two and a half-hour running time.
With only one viewing, it's nearly impossible to pinpoint exactly what "Mulholland Drive" is all about. This aspect is sure to frustrate moviegoers who look for easy answers to the point of exhaustion. But for those who exercise patience and have an appreciation for auteurism, the payoff is worth its weight in dancing midgets.
As with nearly all Lynch films, the protagonists do not necessarily remain the center of attention. The supporting cast of creeps and oddballs are just as important to the director. And the weirdoes and wackos are in no short supply in "Mulholland Drive". To the viewer's delight and confusion, they keep crawling out of the woodwork that frames Lynch's seedy vision.
But as fascinating as the peripheral characters are, their vastly unexplained existence mars the film. It's as if Lynch was so enamored with his own character concepts that he chose to ignore that they don't propel the plot forward. The viewer is constantly in a state of wanting to know more about the characters, their seemingly inexorable duality, and their frequently iffy motivations. Despite this, though, "Mulholland Drive" is richly entertaining in its own disjointed way.