Movie Reviews

Mulholland Drive is the film that prompted me to start this movie reviews section here on Captains of the World. I was totally blown away when I first saw it, and I wanted some way communicate with everyone how great I thought it was. So, the idea of posting these movie reviews was born, so to speak.

Unfortunately, I couldn't really think of a good way to write about it. I started writing my review a couple of times, but figured that each draft wasn't really representative of the film, and so I just moved on to writing reviews of some other movies I'd seen recently. Now, however, I've watched it again. And keeping with my efforts to review every single film I see, it's time to write a proper review.

But, I don't think I can. I don't think anyone can, really. There are many things about Mulholland Drive that defy explanation and, more importantly, criticism. There's no doubt about it: this is one seriously weird movie. The most accurate and basic plot description I can give you is that Mulholland Drive is about a young woman (played by Naomi Watts) who moves to Hollywood from Canada with the hopes of making it big as a movie star. To say any more than that, however, would be a bad idea for two reasons: first, part of the joy of the film is discovering what happens to her when she gets to Hollywood; and second, my interpretation of what happens to her might be completely different from someone else's.

Yes, this is one of those movies that doesn't provide any easy answers. You have to pay attention. You have to think about it. I've seen it three times now and I'm still not sure what's going on in some parts. But give it a chance and embrace its weirdness.

If you're about to watch this for the first time, I'd suggest watching it with someone else who hasn't seen it. Don't strain to find or follow what you think the 'plot' of the film should be; it doesn't really have one -- at least, in the traditional sense. Don't ask a whole bunch of questions while you're watching it (especially if you're with someone who has seen it before).

And then when it's done, talk about it for a while. It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle of a film: it throws all of its various pieces at you, and then leaves it up to you to put them together afterwards. Then after you?ve mulled it over for a while (and chances are you won?t be able to help but do that) come and talk to me and tell me what you think the final picture on the jigsaw turned out to be.

I'll tell you what I think it is, but there's a pretty good chance that we might be seeing different things.