FMJeff
10-18-2001, 12:06 PM
<b>Mulholland Drive</b>
I really have no right to review David Lynch's new film, Mulholland Drive, even though I have seen it. I have no idea what happened in the last half-hour of the film. I saw the last half-hour. I just don't know what happened. I can take a guess at what happened, but it would only be a guess. I would like to tie the director to a chair until I got some answers. But Mulholland Drive has infected my brain like a virus that won't go away. I could never recommend it to anyone but I, for one, must see it at least a few more times.
The film begins with a limousine winding down a dark Los Angeles road. Within moments a murder is prevented by a freak collision caused by teenage joy riders. Scene after scene plays out brilliantly adding layer upon layer of mystery. The buildup is almost unbearable and that's when we hit that possibly indecipherable last half-hour.
The film revolves around two young women. Both are actresses. The sweet and na‹ve Betty (Naomi Watts) befriends and protects the mysterious and sultry Rita (Laura Elena Harring). Rita has amnesia from the car accident and Betty becomes obsessed with unraveling clues to Rita's identity. The two women become interdependent and entwined; a situation that here leads to madness. Like I said, I will know better when I have seen this film a few more times. It should be noted that David Lynch shared the best director honors at the Cannes film festival this year. He deserves it. I loved this film. I just can't recommend it. There is a madness in this film that might be contagious. ****
<b>My Life as a House</b>
There is a shack in an upscale neighborhood that's been waiting to be torn down for twenty years. It's on a forty-foot bluff that stretches for miles on the Pacific with a view that embodies the perfection of nature. It belongs to George Monroe (Kevin Kline), left to him by an abusive father who killed his mother in a drunken driving accident. The day George is fired from his job as an architectural model builder he also learns he has incurable cancer. He has been divorced for ten years and his sixteen-year-old son Sam (Hayden Christensen) has been using drugs since twelve. Sam is an attractive but confused and angry mess. George decides to take Sam on for the summer to help him tear down the old shack and build a dream house.
George hasn't been happy since the day he held a seven-year old Sam and kissed his hair in the surf. George wants to try and make up for years of neglect and apathy. George's ex-wife, Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) is having problems with her current rich, workaholic husband (Jamey Sheridan) who doesn't think it is important to hug their two young boys. Friends and neighbors who slowly take to George's reawakening round out the cast. Jena Malone, Mary Steenburgen, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards, Barry Primus and John Pankow all have pivotal supporting roles. It is Hayden Christensen as Sam that gives a star making performance. That will be irrelevant in a year's time since Hayden is the boy who will be Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode 2.
My Life as a House has a melodramatic setup that could easily have been maudlin and sappy, but the screenplay by Mark Andrus (As Good as It Gets) is exceptional. Time after time the words hit their mark. Kevin Kline handles the highs and lows of this journey, saying the things that we all hope we would say when we get to that point. He is full of all the humor of a man with nothing left to lose. I hope I have that much grace and purpose when my time comes.
My Life as a House is well built. ****
<b>Riding in Cars with Boys</b>
Riding in Cars with Boys is the true-life story of Beverly Donofrio. Beverly (Drew Barrymore) learns as she goes through her teenage years that she can write. This helps her deal with the lower middle-class, awkward life she's been given.
The film directed by Penny Marshall focuses on comedy through a series of mini-tragedies, if you consider teen pregnancies and heroin addiction tragedies. Pen
I really have no right to review David Lynch's new film, Mulholland Drive, even though I have seen it. I have no idea what happened in the last half-hour of the film. I saw the last half-hour. I just don't know what happened. I can take a guess at what happened, but it would only be a guess. I would like to tie the director to a chair until I got some answers. But Mulholland Drive has infected my brain like a virus that won't go away. I could never recommend it to anyone but I, for one, must see it at least a few more times.
The film begins with a limousine winding down a dark Los Angeles road. Within moments a murder is prevented by a freak collision caused by teenage joy riders. Scene after scene plays out brilliantly adding layer upon layer of mystery. The buildup is almost unbearable and that's when we hit that possibly indecipherable last half-hour.
The film revolves around two young women. Both are actresses. The sweet and na‹ve Betty (Naomi Watts) befriends and protects the mysterious and sultry Rita (Laura Elena Harring). Rita has amnesia from the car accident and Betty becomes obsessed with unraveling clues to Rita's identity. The two women become interdependent and entwined; a situation that here leads to madness. Like I said, I will know better when I have seen this film a few more times. It should be noted that David Lynch shared the best director honors at the Cannes film festival this year. He deserves it. I loved this film. I just can't recommend it. There is a madness in this film that might be contagious. ****
<b>My Life as a House</b>
There is a shack in an upscale neighborhood that's been waiting to be torn down for twenty years. It's on a forty-foot bluff that stretches for miles on the Pacific with a view that embodies the perfection of nature. It belongs to George Monroe (Kevin Kline), left to him by an abusive father who killed his mother in a drunken driving accident. The day George is fired from his job as an architectural model builder he also learns he has incurable cancer. He has been divorced for ten years and his sixteen-year-old son Sam (Hayden Christensen) has been using drugs since twelve. Sam is an attractive but confused and angry mess. George decides to take Sam on for the summer to help him tear down the old shack and build a dream house.
George hasn't been happy since the day he held a seven-year old Sam and kissed his hair in the surf. George wants to try and make up for years of neglect and apathy. George's ex-wife, Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) is having problems with her current rich, workaholic husband (Jamey Sheridan) who doesn't think it is important to hug their two young boys. Friends and neighbors who slowly take to George's reawakening round out the cast. Jena Malone, Mary Steenburgen, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards, Barry Primus and John Pankow all have pivotal supporting roles. It is Hayden Christensen as Sam that gives a star making performance. That will be irrelevant in a year's time since Hayden is the boy who will be Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode 2.
My Life as a House has a melodramatic setup that could easily have been maudlin and sappy, but the screenplay by Mark Andrus (As Good as It Gets) is exceptional. Time after time the words hit their mark. Kevin Kline handles the highs and lows of this journey, saying the things that we all hope we would say when we get to that point. He is full of all the humor of a man with nothing left to lose. I hope I have that much grace and purpose when my time comes.
My Life as a House is well built. ****
<b>Riding in Cars with Boys</b>
Riding in Cars with Boys is the true-life story of Beverly Donofrio. Beverly (Drew Barrymore) learns as she goes through her teenage years that she can write. This helps her deal with the lower middle-class, awkward life she's been given.
The film directed by Penny Marshall focuses on comedy through a series of mini-tragedies, if you consider teen pregnancies and heroin addiction tragedies. Pen