Mulholland Drive (2001)

If there's a movie that really sums up David Lynch's WTF style of direction, this would be a sterling example.

Mulholland Drive stars Naomi Watts as Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn, Laura Harring as Rita, and Justin Theroux as Adam Kesher. It all starts with a car crash/botched hit involving a woman who comes to call herself Rita. She has amnesia after the wreck and picks the first name she sees on a movie poster for a Rita Hayworth film. She ends up hiding out at Betty Elms' (an aspiring actress just in from the boonies) Aunt Ruth's apartment, where Betty finds her, and decides to help her find out who she is. While this is going on, we come across Hollywood director Adam Kesher, who is trying to recast the lead female role in his film that is in production, but being strongarmed by mobsters on the decision. The two storylines converge as Betty is called in to audition for Adam's film, the appearance of a blue key in Rita's purse (to what, she can't remember), Rita remembering the name Diane Selwyn, and the Spanish word Silencio.

Okay, so David Lynch made a list of 10 things to watch for to unlock the mystery of this film. Meaning, you will have no idea what the hell is happening unless you know to look for these 10 clues. There's an Easter egg to the list on the DVD menu, so I highly recommend looking over this list before watching the movie. The tagline for this film is "A love story in the City Of Dreams," and really, even having that piece of information is helpful before watching this film.

Despite HATING the fact that this film needed a cheat sheet to be understood, I do find it a beautifully painful piece of cinema. Watching the love stories evolve and break apart in this, watching how consumed the characters are by them. David Lynch did well in portraying that pain and euphoria. As a mystery, it was a bit too mysterious. I don't like to feel like I missed the joke, and everybody else is laughing. My solace: everyone else I talked to about this seemed to not get it, as well.

The acting at the beginning seemed to be in slow motion. Like watching a film underwater. I later realized that this was actually a great effect. It annoyed the crap out of me at first, because I just thought the pacing was too slow, but after watching the film it all made sense, and kudos to cast and crew for pulling that off.

Without giving too much away, because telling you about any other parts would give away surprises, and just sound weird out of context, I will mentioned the Club Silencio scene. On the hunt for Rita's past, Betty and Rita end up at Club Silencio, and watch that night's performance. This scene had me riveted to the screen. The sheer power of the inactivity, your mind working to make sense of what's happening, watching Rita and Betty go to pieces over it all; it captivated me. Points for David Lynch. All of this confusion and emotion translated to well for me as a viewer. Like feeling what the characters were feeling. And that rendition of Crying tears your heart out.

This movie, as a whole, really worked. No one person really popped for me. It's more of an ensemble piece for cast and crew. You don't really think of this as a Naomi Watts picture, although she is quite good in it. This is known as a David Lynch piece, and he guided the helm of this picture really well, but it wouldn't have worked if not for all of the others. Definitely worth a watch, but be prepared.