Review of Inland Empire (2006) by Damonc. — 17 Dec 2006

I'm the biggest fan of David Lynch. I have seen Mulholland Drive 5 times, Lost Highway and Blue Velvet twice each, and relished Twin Peaks, The Elephant Man and Wild at Heart. But as much as I wanted to, I didn't go for IE.

I think the story is actually very simple: Laura Dern's character, despite not heeding a warning against acting in a particular movie, go ahead and does it anyway and falls in love with her co-star.

This opens the pathway into two alternate universes: (i) a white trash equivalent of Laura Dern's character, and (ii) a Polish mirror image. Much happens, but the essential thing is that through the magic (i.

E. catharsis) of cinema, a person is able to transcend humdrum problems, even murders, and Laura Dern's character learn enough from the movie to be able to connect to her white trash and Polish selves, and is eventually able to penetrate into a new world, where even bad acting (notably by bunnies, and by implication, herself) receives thunderous applause.

Okay, but so what? I sat through three hours of tedium without experiencing much suspense, mystery or in fact, any emotional connection with Laura Dern's incarnations. The best thing about IE was the bunnies, and that was really stolen from a short film done a couple of years ago.

I think Lynch is stuck on traveling the lost highway of Mulholland Drive, and needs to get off quick before it all turns into another sordid episode of True Hollywood Stories.