I saw this movie when it first came out, almost a quarter century ago. I remember being entertained but not sure what I had just watched. I’ve had it on my list to re-watch for the last 10 years and last week, finally had the chance to do so.
First, I want to complement the acting of Naomi Watts. She was phenomenal in this. She was able to go from a happy-go-lucky character to a brooding and resentful one without a problem. It was like we were watching two different people. Impressive.
The movie itself is a bit wild and weird at the start but pleasing to the eyes. It then pretty much changes on a dime and becomes a different movie altogether. The reason for this is because director Danvid Lynch filmed the first half of the movie and shopped it as a pilot for a TV series. Remember, he was the creator of Twin Peaks, which had a movie and a long TV run of its own. The movie has a bit of a TV movie feel to it at times, so this all makes sense.
Anyway, the networks didn’t pick up the series and so Lynch was left with half a movie in the can and no money to finish it. Eventually, he was able to secure funding from a connection of his in France. The second half of the movie feels a little slapped-together to me and that’s because it was. Lynch admitted that after he had secured funding, a year and a half after they filmed the first half, he had no idea how he was going to complete the story. He decided to meditate on it and that’s when he said it all came to him.
The end product is a movie that is great at times and a bit confusing at other times. There was a hodgepodge piecing together of ideas and facets that the director had in his back pocket. It turned out to be a crime thriller/art house movie when all was completed.
I give the acting very high marks. The writing is just so-so. The design, sets and cinematography were decent. I give this movie 76 potatoes out of 100. It’s worth watching but prepare yourself to be confused at times and you may need to do some Googling afterward.
