Who is Rita? Who cares...

Rating: 3/10 (25 March 2002)

*May contain spoilers* *May contain spoilers*
David Lynch has always had an eye for the strange and the bizarre. Most of his films are full with eccentric characters and have enough clues to fill some extra films. So the real question is whether or not you can relate to his characters. If the answer is yes(like in : The Straight Story or The Elephant Man), than you will like the film. If not(like in: Blue Velvet or Wild at Heart) than you are in troubles.
This film, which is hard to describe exactly about what it is without revealing too much of the plot, begins with a car accident which leads to a loss of memory by a woman, which later we will know as Rita(Laura Harring). She is helped by an aspired actress called Betty(Namoi Watts). From now on it's free ride in the world of David Lynch. As usual it is full of characters that come and disappear never to be seen again. As always it is full with clues that suppose to help you solve the mystery. That is if you pay attention closely. However nothing can help you if the 2 main characters are simply boring and not interesting enough for you to care. And that for me was the low point of the film. I couldn't stand the main characters. I couldn't care less who is Rita or what is she hiding from and I couldn't stand the irritating Betty. So for me the film was lost at the moment I realized that I don't like the main characters. From here it was easy to see that the film(originally a pilot for a series, which was rejected by ABC and was extended to film)is nothing but re-telling of old things which Lynch himself has done better before(see Twin Peaks) and therefore boring.
It is interesting to see that a film as boring as this one, has produced so many interpretations, that in itself suppose to help people understand the film better. Some of these interpretations are better and more interesting than the film itself. So here is another one: The first part of the film is a dream. In a dream you take things from reality and place them in another order. In some cases you make your life in the dream a better place than your real life. In the 2nd part of the film we get to know the "real" story. And the relation between reality and dream can provide for another film. But Lynch is not interested in that. He just want to play with his characters and with the audience. He seems to have succeeded. Most of the audience like the film very much. I didn't. As far as I am concerned it was a waste of time and money. There were 2 points that stood above the film: The beautiful music(as always) from Angelo Badalamenti and the cinematography. But that's not enough to hold a film for 145 minute.
In short avoid. Unless you are a fan of David Lynch. If you are, you will find here plenty of what you like.