Review of Inland Empire (2006) by Thatmovieguy — 23 Oct 2007
This is the type of movie that is impossible to give a perfect score review to, w/o sounding like a pretentious, art snob elitist. Simply because, this movie is so avant-garde, and so different from 99% of other independent movies, not to mention all the mainstream movies we all watch, that you can't compare it to much, except Lynch's own body of work.
INLAND EMPIRE at a superficial level, could be called "Mulholland Drive" gone all "Eraserhead" with no "Twin Peaks". But really, it's just David Lynch's first full on subconscious trek of imagination, since Eraserhead.
Just pure creativity, instead of setting up a linear story, lynch's "Picasso-esque" style, of throwing fragment of plot lines around, and then distorting their shape and importance later, gives EMPIRE an ability to impact the engrossed viewer, has honest to God, NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE! This movie is not LIKE a dream, it IS a dream.
You leave the theatre confused as to what you saw and felt, as much as you try to hold on to the pure magic of those moments, that came like a surprise birthday party, out of the blue. I do not think David Lynch is the greatest film maker around or anything like that, but I do think he's ONE of the greatest around.
However, I think his skill and the type of wild movies he makes are not totally interconnected. To me, Lynch JUST HAPPENS to make avant-garde films, like Aphex Twin just happens to make electronic music.
In a parallel timeline, Lynch might be making some of the best Spielberg type movies around, and Micheal Bay makes really pretentious art films that ONLY snobs like (isn't that what Transformers is anyway? one big blur of color?).
Anyway, seeing this movie in theaters was absolutely magical for me and the 2 friends I saw it with. I hope you have a similar experience.
This review of Inland Empire (2006) was written by Thatmovieguy on 23 Oct 2007.
Inland Empire has generally received positive reviews.
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