Starring Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Robert Forster,
Chad Everett, Michael J. Anderson, Dan Hedaya, Angelo Badalamenti, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lee Grant.
Written and Directed by David Lynch.
A sultry starlet (Harring) is being driven in a limo down Mulholland Drive late at night.
Staring down the barrel of a gun in the back seat, the limo is blindsided by a bunch
of joyriding teens, and the starlet staggers down the embankment and lands in Hollywood,
hiding out in an empty flat. Adam (Theroux) is a successful director who is trying to
cast his new movie. The studio money men (Hedaya, Badalamenti) are insisting upon a
certain woman for the part, but Adam refuses. Betty (Watts) is a bright-eyed, girl-next-door
from Deep River, Ontario, looking to become an actress in the movies. Her aunt gave
her use of her house while she was gone, the same flat that the starlet is hiding in.
Betty discovers her there taking a shower and asks her name, but she can't remember it
- amnesia from the accident.
She sees a poster of Rita Hayworth in 1946 Gilda, and decides to call herself Rita.
Together, they become friends and decide to try and discover Rita's identity. Betty
takes an audition for a part and meets Adam, but Adam is forced to hire the woman the
money-men desire. Betty and Rita take a journey to discover Rita's identity and the
trip takes unexpected twists and turns.
Originally made as a pilot for ABC, the brass there rejected the show as too weird. From David
Lynch, what they were expecting? I have no idea how this material could have been
made into a weekly TV series - there are too many dead-end plots and characters,
such as Robert Forster's brief turn as a detective - but ABC's rejection has resulted
in our good fortune. Mulholland Drive is David Lynch return to form. Sure,
Lynch recently made the excellent heart-warming and good-natured Straight Story.
But Mulholland Drive is back to his twisted form, Blue Velvet and Twin
Peaks during the first season form. It comes complete with his trademark banal
and retro dialogue combined with weird characters such as a dwarf movie mogul, Spanish
torch singer, menacing cowboy and Billy Ray Cyrus as a pool boy (now that's weird).
The "damn fine coffee" of Twin Peaks has been updated to expensive expresso
that a temperamental movie producer angrily spits out.
Mulholland Drive isn't confusing or incomprehensible compared to some of Lynch's
work, and isn't laced with plot twists and characters inserted just for the sake of shock
value. The final twenty minutes provides clarity to many of the mysteries in a unique and
satisfying way. The film contrasts the wide-eyed dream of a naive small-town hopeful
becoming a star with the reality of a seeing a few very successful actors among the
many who scratch and fight for small parts, trying to make ends meet. It shows the
difficulty in creating art and unique vision in a town controlled by moguls and money-men,
not exactly an earth-shattering revelation. Adam is the obvious surrogate for Lynch
himself, right down to the nerd glasses, a director who isn't allowed to make the film
he wants to make. Lynch himself seems to have been quite successful in selecting the
films, performers and subject material he wants, including this film where he has
chosen fairly unknown performers, although he had to go to France to get financing.
The performances are excellent throughout, led by
Naomi Watts as the trusting girl-next-door Betty transforming to something else as
the film progresses, showing considerable range of emotion. Justin Theroux with
just a hint of a smirk as the independent minded director provides the film with
really its only source of humour. Laura Harring acquits herself well as the beautiful
and mysterious starlet.
Lynch's favourite composer Angelo Badalamenti provides another moody and haunting score
that beautifully conveys a sense of unease and impending doom just around the corner.
The pacing of the film is slow, the characters moving in a hypnotic, drugged-out way.
The film reminded me a bit of Vertigo both with the unknown identity of the
mysterious beauty, the dreamy way in which she moved through her life, and the 50's
feel of corruption and decay beneath the innocence and family-values of the period.
Mulholland Drive is a well-plotted and often creepy mystery with a very satisfying
conclusion that will make his fans happy, as well as mystery fans who don't mind a little
weirdness in their stories.
 
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