Afraid to bad-mouth this movie? Don't Be...

Rating: 1/10 (28 September 2002)

An pathetic attempt to imitate the plot switcheroo of "The Usual Suspects". But without any of the character development, and no characters that you can care about. The plot switcheroo at the very end has nothing to do with the excruciating hours that preceed it.
These types of films should only be attempted by those capable of subtlety. David Lynch has none, as one can plainly see by the coarsely integrated acting. Like so many other minor moments of this movie, it is a poorly executed attempt at suspense, that is not done by gradually building rapport with the viewer and proceeding with a momentum that has you wondering "where it will go?", but rather by tediously stagnating at a point until you are wondering "when will it move on?".
It also demonstrates how NOT to do mystery. A good mystery would lead the viewer through a series of incremental insights that when realized awe the viewer with how tied together the whole story is. What is unknown to the viewer in this flop throughout it's plot is the plot itself, which is unrelated to the majority of the film itself.
It is a pathetic attempt at "Jacob's Ladder" but without the directing skill needed to capture the existentialism. As far as it's existential qualities go: it has none. It's moments aren't filled with an experience of any kind. It's moments are focused on the tedious suspense, and the big question of "Why this experience at this time?" whose answer is ultimately randomness, or a contrived purpose which can only be explained by the author. Any experience that might escape that, fails to escape the horrible acting.
I laugh at the fact it was recommended to me by someone who hated it also, but was afraid to bad-mouth it because want to admit that he didn't get it. Having now seen the movie, I can say that I DO get it, because David Lynch is so obvious and tedious and unsubtle.
"Let us go to the mystery spot."
"Yes, the mystery spot. And do the... ... ...thing."
"Yes, the... ...thing."
(Actor scratches butt for 10 minutes while pointing at something that the camera never really quite shows.)