An Infuriating Film

Rating: 9/10 (5 December 2001)

For the first two-thirds or so, _Mulholland Drive_ is a great film, an enthralling experience. Despite the presence of several loose ends and characters who are never revisited, the story is riveting and drags you along for the ride, almost against your will. Then, the whole, flimsy house of cards collapses and we're treated to an absolutely incomprehensible conclusion in which people switch identities, etc., etc.

In _Lost Highway_, this switch actually made some sort of sense, but here, it seems like nothing so much as a sudden realization on David Lynch's part that he must come up with some sort of conclusion, some way to wrap things up.
If this wasn't a Lynch film, critics would be absolutely merciless in tearing it to shreds. But because the great David Lynch is the director, everyone assumes there must be some method to the madness.

At the screening I attended, an old man in front of me said, rather loudly, as the credits rolled, "What the hell was that?" and the whole theater erupted in wild laughter. He was verbalizing the reaction of many of us.

Now, I'm a David Lynch fan through and through and will always be front and center at the release of each of his films, but this was a very disappointing experience. It's too bad this wasn't picked up as a television series--there are moments of brilliance on display here and you can see where an extended series might have gone. But _Mulholland Drive_ just doesn't work as a movie.