Premise - After a car crash in the Hollywood hills a woman (Laura Harring) is left with amnesia. She is helped by Betty (Naomi Watts) to try and piece together who she is and what happened to her. Of course trying to write a synopsis of a Lynch movie is a near impossible task. There are so many different characters and plot threads that to try and sum it up in one sentence is a folly. Suffice to say that the above synopsis is the very bare bones of the events that transpire in Mulholland Falls. When watching a David Lynch movie you are pretty much guaranteed certain things. You can expect characters changing halfway through the film, weird sex, creepy dwarves, haunting music, blacker than black comedy, emphasis on strange objects and abandonment of anything approaching linear storytelling. Mulholland Drive delivers on all these Lynchian trademarks and more besides. I started out watching Mulholland Drive determined to understand it, to figure out the plot and come out the other end with a good idea of what had happened. About halfway through I gave up trying to figure out what was going on and decided instead to just enjoy the movie. The film throws too many weird characters and weirder plot threads at you for you to have any chance of knowing what's going on in one viewing. I have since decided (although my opinion might change upon a second viewing) that the film is a dream. Either of the main character Rita or of someone not shown. The film presents all the hallmarks of dreams. In dreams sometimes you will walk through a door and the room that you KNOW should be on the other side isn't there. it's someplace completely different. Yet you don't question this, you continue with whatever your doing. Much of Mulholland Drive is like this. Situations present themselves to the characters that make little or no sense and rather than questioning what's happening they continue regardless. This is the movie that Lynch has been building up to making his whole career. All his previous works have been off-kilter, but all pale in comparison to this opus. Originally made in 1999 and intended as a TV pilot, the networks didn't have a clue what was going on and passed on it. Lynch then spiced it up a bit (the lesbian scenes are an obvious addition) gave it an ending (of sorts) and there you have it. The direction by Lynch is first rate. I've always found him to be very cold director with both his actors and his environments, but this film has a distinct warm feel to it. Perhaps something to do with it being set in Los Angeles, but it has a certain glow. He does however continue to direct his actors in a cold manner. It fits his style of films and it works. The character of Betty was incredibly intriguing. Played brilliantly by Niomi Watts, she starts of the film as naive little girl and when she starts to help Rita she comes over as a twee Nancy Drew. However about half way through the movie she goes for an audition and the character gets completely turned on it's head. She becomes this insatiable sex kitten, it's like a completely different character. Laura Harring who plays amnesiac Rita is also excellent. Aside form being absolutely stunning, she is a convincing actress whom plays the amnesia perfectly. I'm a fan of having characters with selective memory (see Memento & Vanilla Sky) in films. I can see how it would be fun for a filmmaker to play around with the audiences perceptions and the audience can get a kick out of trying to figure out the characters past. Aside from Justin Theroux as film director Adam Kesher, the rest of the cast have very small roles. Dan Hedeya and Robert Forster, two of the biggest names in the film have only one scene each, this is typical of the film. Characters are introduced and have a scene or two then the film moves on. All however, play their part in the big picture and leave their mark on the viewer. I found it was best to stop trying to understand Mulholland Drive and to just experience it. It is an absolutely glorious movie that should be seen by as many people as possible. And if you can figure out what a blue cube, a deformed homeless guy, a Hollywood controlling dwarf, a weird cowboy and an incompetent hitman all have in common. Then kudos to you, you've just understood Mulholland Drive. Me, I didn't get it, but I still loved it.

9/10 for Mulholland Drive. Poster Quote - Rrrriiiiiiiiiiight.