A David Lynch Puzzle that's worth taking time to solve

Rating: 9/10 (3 September 2001)

David Lynch is one of those directors that I'm glad is out there making movies, even though I've never fully grooved on his particular style of storytelling. I admire him far more than I embrace him. When all is said and done in the career of David Lynch, he'll be most fondly remembered as the man who made strangely twisted noir like "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks" (which held its sanity for as long as it could.)
The David Lynch films that most people find so infuriating are what I like to call his "puzzle box" movies. In films like "Eraserhead" and "Lost Highway", Lynch buries his meaning in dream logic and symbols. His refusal to explain his work only adds fuel to the fire lit by his detractors.
"Mullholland Drive" starts out as twisted film noir, but about ninety minutes in Lynch does an abrupt gear change and delves deep into "puzzle box" territory. This will frustrate many viewers because the first half is immensely absorbing, and I'll admit as the final hour played out I was growing increasingly frustrated by what Lynch was doing with characters I had come to embrace.
But as I walked out of the theatre, my mind ready to explode, I started thinking, and working my way through it. And as I gnawed at it, like a piece of corn stuck between my teeth, the greatest thing happened. Something that never happened with "Eraserhead", "Lost Highway" or the final episodes of "Twin Peaks". As the pieces came together, the theme of "Mullholland Drive" became very clear to me, and the film went from frustrating to brilliant.
This movie is a challenge, and it requires a lot of thought afterwards. (I warn you not to see it alone. The more minds helping you the better.) But this time take comfort in the fact that THIS DAVID LYNCH PUZZLE HAS A SOLUTION! Everything does make sense. Not only that, but once I figured out the story, I marveled at how much more powerful the story was BECAUSE of the way Lynch decided to tell it.
For example (and I'll call this not just a minor *spoiler* but a clue) one character exists simultaneously at both the happiest and saddest time in her life. It appears that one actress is playing two characters, because the two personalities are so different. But it's the same person, and by putting them in front of you side by side, the sadness of the situation (the loss of joy) is far more powerful than linear storytelling would have brought across.
"Mullholland Drive" is not going to work for everyone. If you hated "Naked Lunch", "Memento" or "Eyes Wide Shut" you're probably going to hate this one too. I however think it's the finest example to date of David Lynch doing what he does best. It's breathtaking, brilliant and one of the best movies I've seen in the last couple of years. (Yet if I hadn't figured the story out, I wouldn't be gushing right now.)