Review of Blue Velvet (1986) by Greg C — 12 Jul 2010

Jeffrey Beaumont: See that clock on the wall? In five minutes you are not going to believe what I've told you.

I haven't been a big David Lynch fan in the past. Besides The Elephant Man, I think his style is way too weird for me. I can understand how others find his work very intriguing, I'm just not there for most of the time. This film manages to combine a fairly straight forward plot with some really crazy, Lynch style shit, but it did manage to keep me intrigued throughout, which is in small part due to Dennis Hopper's mad performance.

The film is set in a small North Carolina town. Kyle MacLachlan stars as Jeffrey, a college boy who has come home after his father was hospitalized. Jeffrey manages to stumble across a random ear diced off from someone, which leads him into a bizarre mystery situation involving a possible kidnapping, a broken lounge singer, and an insane man who has a thing for amyl nitrate.

The movie really sets itself up nicely, showing us what seems to be a peaceful town, before launching the camera underneath the ground and into the hive of a lot of slimy insects. Its the perfect way to show us that danger is lurking just around the corner if you look a little closer. As this film progresses, Jeffrey finds himself in a dark underworld, which he has almost no idea how to handle.

MacLachlan is quite good at mixing his cool college attitude when dealing with the local sweetheart, played by Laura Dern, and his barely-able-to-comprehend facial expressions when dealing with the characters played by Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper. Speaking of Hopper, this man is just fantastic in this crazy, mad, fucked up role. Hopper completely steals the show, with the film giving us just enough of him and despite being one of the least likable characters in just about any film.

The visual style is typical Lynch. Lots of random imagery, evoking different thoughts, that I'm sure others, more in line with what Lynch has to offer, can accept and be fulfilled by. I can't necessarily say I was, but the forgivingly simple way the plot handles itself was enough for me to at least not get lost.

A very dark mystery, that certainly benefits from having its strange qualities be matched by its actors.

Frank Booth: What kind of beer do you like?

Jeffrey Beaumont: Heineken.

Frank Booth: [shouting] Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!