Finally "got it"

Rating: 10/10 (16 February 2004)

SPOILER What a great film! It took two viewings and careful attention until I figured it out. The characters were intriguing, Naomi Watts' acting was brilliant, watching Rita/Camilla was captivating, and the overall creepiness of the film was perfect.
If you are here then I'll assume you, like I the first time around, didn't get it. Here's my take:
The key point in the film that brought it all together for me was when the Cowboy opened the door to Diane's room and said `time to get up pretty girl.' That point marked the end of the Diane's dream. Diane lived in Apt. 17 all along and everything that transpired before that point was Diane's dream. This is why the characters came and went without any apparent continuity-just like in our night time dreams they serve their purpose for the moment and might or might not be back. The crash, Diane helping Camilla, the murder of the man, fat lady and cleaner, the Director's problems, Coco-the-condo-manager, perky Betty, the first love scene, all that stuff is in her dream. Diane wakes up makes the coffee and winds her way to the final act. The parts that tell about her real life start at the dinner party.
In reality we see that Rita/Camilla is the strong one (dinner party, final naked scene) and Diane is the weak one. Of course in her dream it is vice versa. The Director's disintegrating life is dream payback for him going with Rita/Camilla. The laughing elderly couple are (perhaps) demons of conscience. The blue key on Diane's coffee table meant the hit man did the job. In the dream, Rita opens the box with the other blue key and then disappears, symbolizing her disappearing from Diane's life . A bit later in the dream the demons come from that very box dropped by homeless guy behind Winkies. The magician in the theater says it's all an illusion, the singer in the same place is, I believe, singing Roy Orbison's `Crying' in Spanish (`cause you don't have me, and I don't have you, cry -y -y-ing over you.').

I found it to be a captivating film. 10.