Intriguing, involving, confusing

Rating: Null/10 (6 May 2002)

I've seen most of David Lynch's films, so the fact that I had no idea what was going on by the time this movie ended neither surprised nor disappointed me. The fact is that the movie very successfully keeps you involved, albeit mostly on the pretense that you will know what is going on by the time the movie has ended. Lynch's ability to combine surreal happiness, horrific surprises, and absurd situations (to the point of being disturbing) is possibly surpassed by no other director whose work I have seen. I've seen mentioned in a number of reviews the Â‘dream-like' quality of the film. This is true to a certain extent as in when you turn around in a dream and the situation in which you are involved has changed completely. The conversation between the director and the cowboy was just plain normal if you didn't think about it, but underlying was a disturbing quality, both because of the setting of the scene and simply because of the look of the cowboy's face. The same disturbing quality was evident in the theatre scene, on the surface a simple scene unless you let your imagination go and then it can get under your skin. Lynch also has a talent for keeping characters just far enough away in a scene to make you notice them, but not allow you to understand their meaning. I thought it was interesting that 'Eraserhead' kept coming to mind as I watched this film. If you've never seen a David Lynch film, don't see this one and expect a simple film noir with some plot twists and an ending that will tie up all of the loose ends (I have seen mentioned in other reviews that it makes sense upon a second viewing, something that I find hard to believe but something which I have not yet undertaken). If you're looking for something fascinating and truly out of the ordinary, spend a couple of hours of your life taking this one in.