Definite Plot SPOILER

Rating: Null/10 (1 November 2001)

As I sit and try to recall the other films attributed to David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Dune, Lost Highway) I begin to realize something I haven't seen any of them. So, when I stepped into my private screening room, procured for me by Samira, I had no idea of what to expect. I was excited to be part of a private viewing, so what I watched mattered little. The film, as of now, has yet to be picked up for distribution in America. I knew that some of his previous movies could be characterized as weird, but again, I had no Lynchian experience. The movie was originally shot to be a pilot for another TV series that ABC decided not to pick up. The movie stars Laura Herring (Little Nicky, Exit to Eden) as Rita, and Naomi Watts (Babe: Pig in the City, Tank Girl) as Betty Elms. Justin Theroux (American Psycho, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion) plays rising director Adam Kesher. Billy Ray Cyrus gave the performance of a lifetime in his role as the pool cleaner. Rather than give you a long synopsis of the film, I will try to point out what I thought were some interesting scenes. Lynch himself breaks the film into three parts; Part One: The Perfect Mystery Part Two: A sad illusion Part Three: Love So to begin, Rita survives a car accident only to find that she cannot remember anything. She meets and befriends Betty, a talented, naïve actress, and the two try to figure out Rita's true identity. Meanwhile, hotshot director Adam Kesher is called in for a meeting, only to be told by some guidoes that he must pick a certain girl for the lead in a role. Adam storms out of the meeting, golf club in hand, and proceeds to walk out to his new Porsche Boxster. He sees a blacked out limo and walks over to ask if it belongs to the Castigliane Brothers. He's told to get lost, and decides that he needs to work on his chip shot. What better place practice then on the hood of the limo. That is my first favorite scene. There is nothing special about it, I am just a glutton for gratuitous violence. After winning the gold jacket on the 18th limo, Adam returns home to find his wife in bed with another man. At this point, Adam has taken enough and decides that his wife's jewelry needs to be painted pink. It is here that Billy Ray Cyrus gives the performance of a lifetime. Even though Billy is shacked up with Adam's wife, Billy is able to come across as a moral and upstanding lover. He simply states, `I don't care what she's done, you shouldn't treat her like that.' Then, Billy proceeds to throw Adam out of the house. Minutes later we are introduced to the most random character of the film, the Cowboy. To me, the cowboy is a kind of omniscient and all knowing character. He simply tells Adam to change his attitude and to audition many girls for the part, but pick the girl that the guidos wanted him to use, from the earlier scene. About two-thirds of the way through the movie, you discover that this has been an illusion of Betty's, whose real name is Diane. She and Rita are, in fact, estranged lesbian lovers. Actually, Rita is the upcoming talented new actress, and Diane is just a friend who gets strung along. Infuriated by the announcement that Adam is to marry Rita, Diane has what I call a massive conniption fit. Thus begins my favorite scene number two. We are viewing a stonewall, and hear rapid movement and labored breathing. The shot of the stonewall becomes extremely blurry and then refocuses. This happens several times before you realize that you are looking through Diane's point of view. You see Diane's face, and you can tell that she has been crying for some time. The camera slowly moves down to show that the rapid movement is her arm. The camera pans down her body and you become conscious that she is masturbating. The scene was intensified for me because Diane is not simply masturbating, but she is furiously pummeling her body. This is a violent scene, not a lustful pornographic one.
The film ended and left me feeling no closure. There were many characters who were introduced, but they were not given any depth nor were they explored. I did find some comfort in what Lynch said about his movie. `A pilot is open-ended, and, when it's over, you feel all these threads going out into the infinite which, to me, is a beautiful thing. It's like a body with no head." He went on to say, `But the ending is not the traditional ending like in a film. I call this ending a wart instead of a head. It's not a finished body. It's a body with a wart on top of the neck."