All style and two-thirds substance... in some self-interpretation ride, indeed!

Rating: 7/10 (26 June 2005)

Young aspiring actress Watts (in a knockout performance) arrives in Hollywood and gets caught up in one nightmarish, enigmatic situation after another... and then the movie just nose-dives off a cliff and leaves the viewer in a total self-interpretation limbo!
I mean, how do you rate a movie that is a movie buff's wet dream two-thirds of the way only getting better and better as it builds up, and then just quits? Is a movie really good if it requires 3 viewings to reach a satisfactory solution? Is a film better if the wrap-up is 100% all up to the individual wiever? Is Naomi Watt's character a complete loony or just dreaming all the way through? Does a movie mystery need a solution at all to be good? Boy, this gives every wiever quite a head itch!
Well, when the ride along is such a delight as it is here, I'm prepared to give in. Because as pure movie-making goes, it's fantastic. It balances an almost unbearable fever pitch of a noir thriller, with delicious film clichés and hilarious moments, great performances and truly stunning visuals. It's all style and two-thirds substance - regardless if Lynch had this dream, jotted down the script as soon as he woke up, and changed nothing - or knowing by movie gossip-hearsay that it's a series pilot episode that didn't expand into more, which actually would explain everything in terms of plot logic! But if you know Lynch's repertoire, logic is never required!
7 out of 10 from Ozjeppe