When Mulholland Drive first starts, you may think that Lynch is making a pretty normal movie. His style is pretty much the same but the plotline is managing to remain pretty linear (for a mystery film). Slowly, but surely, we begin to slip down the rabbit hole, and things get strange. The performances are great, especially Naomi Watts. This is one of those movies where it keeps getting better scene after scene, and you have to see it again and again. What truly makes this movie great is the numerous interpretations that can be realized viewing after viewing, and the fact that Lynch is such a master, none of your interpretations can be discounted. Go see this movie. Go buy this movie. This is a definate must have.

Just through Eraserhead and Blue Velvet, David Lynch had proven himself to be the oddest, and one of the most daring filmmakers out there; and also one of my favorites. Mulholland Drive emotionally gripped me more than any Lynch film since Blue Velvet, and it still grips me more than most films today.

First of all, the script is among the deepest I've ever seen. This is one of the only films I know of where every single person who's seen it had a different interpretation. I of course have one, but I'll not explain too much; but the sheer fact of this is just mere proof that this is a film you have to see to believe; and most of the stuff you do try to believe you might just find was not a reality and was just a trip into one's mind. Yes, this film truly is, at times, a trip into the mind, dreams, and desperate desires of one woman. There are several different things this woman can be called; I tend to view her as just human with the same desires as any other (but my views of the film definitely do not stop there).

To truly understand this film, you have to pay attention to everything; the location, the words, the context of words, the arrangement of speech, the arrangement of characters, the relationships of characters (especially between the two leading women and their relationships with others), the reasoning behind characters' acts, even the lighting, and even the smallest detail or object to the side of the screen; in this film, everything is truly important to everything else. You also must know quite a bit about actors and definitely some knowledge on classic hollywood. In this paragraph alone, David Lynch has created a true masterpiece.

I was very disappointed in the 2001 Oscars when it came to the nominations; this film got a sole nomination for Best Director. And while Lynch was certainly deserving of that, this film should've also been nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, and Best Actress for Naomi Watts (her Oscar nominated work in 21 Grams doesn't even touch her work here). Oh well then.

It is startling that after 7 years no one really figured out what this movie is all about. If for any reason you have not watched this movie then please watch it first and then read my explanation. Spoilers coming:

Movie is about last days of Marilyn Monroe and her tragic death in 1962. Lynch originally intended to start with her death and go back in the past to explain it similar to Twin Peaks series. Someone powerful (like that midget) didn't like it and series was canceled.

Who is who in this movie?

1. Betty, Diane and Rita are all Marilyn. Betty represents Marilyn in movies (angelic naive look), Diane is real life (paranoid and obsessed) Marilyn, Rita is glamorous movie star Marilyn.

2. Movie "Sylvia North Story" is actually never finished movie "Something's Got to Give".

3. Cowboy is Dean Martin. He had exclusive right of leading lady approval. When Marilyn was fired he said: "No Marilyn, no picture." Remember words from the movie: "This is the girl." Dean Martin was also associated with mafia.

4. Betty is from Deep Rivers, Ontario. Marilyn's first big budget movie that made her a worldwide star was "Niagara" in 1953. Plot of the movie involves Marilyn planning a murder.

5. For role of Rita, Lynch chose Laura Elena Harring, the first Latina to be crowned Miss USA in 1985. Is it coincidence why she takes name Rita? No, because Monroe family was believed to have been Anglo-Spanish in origin. Rita Hayworth was actually Margarita Carmen Cansino, daughter of Spanish flamenco dancer Eduardo Cansino and English/Irish-American Ziegfeld girl Volga Hayworth.

6. When Betty and Rita enter Diane's apartment, Diane is found dead lying on her side just as Marilyn was found in 1962.

7. At the beginning of the movie you can hear someone snorting drugs and then falling to the pillow. Marilyn was declared dead by acute barbiturate poisoning.

8. In the weeks before her death, Marilyn called DOJ where Bobby Kennedy worked eight times. All phone calls from the night that she died are missing. This explains sinister phone calls throughout the movie.

9. Crash scene on Mulholland Drive is very important. It represents collision of glamorous movie star Marilyn full of money and fame with sweet 16 Norma Jeane represented as cheering young girl in the other car. The result is total amnesia. After the crash she takes name Rita (her true Anglo-Spanish origin and real life role model) and remembers the name of Diane Selwyn (real life paranoid and obsessed Marilyn). She also chose blonde wig (Marilyn was not real blonde, she dyed her hair). Glamour movie star Marilyn is lost after the crash.

10. And finally the blue box explained. It relates to famous Blue Book modeling agency. This is where all started. One of Fox's talent scouts noticed her in 1946 and offered a 6-month contract. After Rita opens the box she disappears and Diane wakes up. After remembering how everything started, movie star Marilyn is gone and all that is left is real Marilyn.
Key to the box in the dream sequence is triangular in shape indicating 3 different personalities of Marilyn.

I have watched UK import HD-DVD version with superb DTS-HD MA sound. Chapters are available but not in the menu. Highly recommended movie for all those interested in mysteries and suspense.

In 2001, David Lynch (director of Dune and creator of Twin Peaks) released a complex mystery film that defied the genre rules and mystified audiences. So what's it about?

The film starred Naomi Watts, in an outstanding performance, as a seemingly naïve and innocent young actress who stumbles upon a car crash victim with amnesia, played by Laura Elena Harring. The two befriend one another and begin to search for clues to the haunted woman's past. Meanwhile a rebellious young director is being told who to recast as the female lead in his next film but when he refuses, strange things begin to happen. Before long their lives cross paths and all who encounter them are affected.

The film unfolds into a delirium of complex schemes, startling eroticism and complete insanity. But it keeps its viewers interested, though it never truly explains itself. Many people have attempted to unravel the film's meaning (there are quite a few interesting theories suggested by other reviewers). Some say that it's about the dream of a psychotic woman on the verge of committing suicide. Others say it's an allegory for the corruptive nature of the Hollywood lifestyle. There have even been some who feel that the whole film is just an epic mindf**k, which wouldn't be that surprising coming from an iconoclast like David Lynch. But what is surprising is that most people will admit that they don't fully understand it, and yet they can't get enough of it. Perhaps its popularity can be attributed to the complex plot, or the brilliant acting, or maybe the raw sesuality of Naomi Watts' performance. Whatever the appeal may be, there's no doubt about it, Mulholland Dr. is a provocative, titillating and mesmerizing trip that you have to experience for yourself. Maybe even more than once.

Also recommended:
Eraserhead
Blue Velvet
The Straight Story

This is Lynch's craziest film. Since I've seen it 4 times in 7 yrs. trying to 'understand' something about it, I guess it's one of my favorites. First, I have not followed the 10 hints in the DVD cover, if indeed the 10 hints are anything but another Lynch spoof. The film must be approached via what Theodor Reik called 'listening with the third ear' (or seeing with the third eye), registering first impressions. Logic won't work, this is more like looking for clues for a rare disease, or trying to discover whether a painting is a fake. The first impression was that I was reminded of 'Persona'. The second thing, represented by the garbage can event, is that dreams are reality here. But what about the older cracked pair at the airport, who were they? Did Dianne use her aunt's money to pay the old guy in the wheelchair to make sure that she was in the film? The 3rd thing is the message of 'Silencio', that the tape/dream keeps running even if the person performing quits playing. So I think Camilla 'dreamed' the whole affair up until she opened the box, at which point 'Betty' disappeared and the tape quit, especially since they both saw 'Betty' as Dianne dead in bed earlier. After that came the real story of events. Now, back to that ugly nut behind the garbage cans .....

When I first began watching Mulholland Drive almost a 11 months ago, I had no David Lynch experience, so I really didn't know what to expect. What I got 147 minutes later was a mix of depression, confusion, amazement, fright, disturbia, trippiness, and the feeling that I had watched something I never seen before! I was a bit confused, but 3 days later, I watched it and finally got it.

Mulholland Drive is a great movie on all levels. It's multi-facted, multi-layered, and very mind-challenging.

So in the beginning we see a bunch of people dancing, and a shot of a pillow, we hear swing music in the dancing scene and someone heavily breathing in the pillow shot. We dissolve and come back out to a woman riding a limo. Who is she? Why is she on Mulholland Drive? We see that the two drivers are hitmen, and will kill her if she doesn't come out of the car. Then the car crashes, and this woman survives.

So to the plot: In one world, a woman wakes up with no memory from the night before, and a woman named Betty comes to the house she wakes up in to look after it. Betty meets this woman, who calls herself Rita after a poster she sees. They try to uncover her identity.

Now another world: Depressed Diane Selwyn is having a horrible life. Her lesbian(?) lover Camilla Rhodes is cheating on her with the director of a movie she's in, and Diane wants Camilla dead.

MD is a very great movie, with a somwehat very deep meaning and is very frightening, hot, thrilling, and if you look into it: fun.

Watch this movie, and have a blast!

I've seen this movie 6 times over the years and ordered it to show some friends and family.

It's a fantastic movie, well done in every aspect; It's a mystery within a mystery within another mystery (or two!) so get ready to blow your mind, I still haven't even come close to figuring it out even with the 10 point list (clues) that accompany the DVD. It's so complicated that one internet synopsis I read was several pages, probably more printed words than the total movie dialogue; Get ready for a challange and good luck!

This is the first david lynch film I have seen, and I loved it!
Watched it once - couldn't stop thinking about it and trying to figure it out, watched it a second time - my own theory began to evolve. Watched it a third time - and am just amazed at the mind of david lynch. I will definetly be watching this and more of his movies again!! The Actors also gave an amazing performance!

Mulholland Drive is the road up on the cliff behind the white "HOLLYWOOD" sign. Supposedly, it's very romantic to drive along this at night, looking down upon the city lights, knowing there are stars below. Mulholland Drive is a symbol of the glamor and romance of the movies. After watching this movie, however, you'll realize the title was chosen in dark sarcasm!

Mulholland Drive is the story of a girl, Diane, who wins a jitter-bug contest and goes to LA to start out in the film industry, by which her innocent nature is corrupted and destroyed, at least figuratively. The movie does not employ traditional narrative techniques, to say the least. In other reviews there has been much quibbling over decoding the plot, dream sequences, and what not. I'm not sure any of these things are really important to understanding the themes of the movie. I prefer to look at it as a piece of cinematic poetry, expressed in mood and symbols, more like a Fellini film. Below I will provide you with my clues for interpreting the meaning of the film--the language of the film, if you will.

First of all, pay close attention to the color symbolism. The sky blue represents innocence, truth, and purity. Notice the blue backdrop in the stylized jitter-bug contest. Red, seen much more commonly, represents evil and deceit.

Secondly, the key and the box represent Diane's soul. Watch carefully what happens to these, to whom they are given.

Thirdly, watch for three demonic figures and one angelic figure. The most important of these is Rita, the amnesiac woman that Diane finds naked in her aunt's flat when she arrives in LA. Diane attempts to help the defenseless Rita, and the two become embroiled in a lesbian relationship. Rita really represents celebrity or Diane's public persona, and the relationship is really Diane's narcisitic relationship with herself. At first Diane is much the stronger in the relationship, but Rita's personality grows to supplant her. Once the two are inextricably linked, Diane learns that Rita is by no means a faithful lover!

Next is the red devil. He has neither glamor nor subtlety. Indeed, he lives behind the dumpster at Winkie's. He represents brutality, violence, murder. He visits himself on the hitmen and underworld elements, and his is the gaze of the basilisk.

Next is the hideous, eavesdropping dwarf throned in the giant red room. (red again!) He represents the mafia elements that dominate and eat away at the film industry.

Finally, the cowboy is an angelic figure. Note his blue undershirt. He is sadly impotent among these powerful demonic forces, but he does help Adam, the director, out of his mess. But not Diane. ("If you see me twice, things have gone badly.")

Mulholland Drive is my favorite movie since 2000. I think it's one of David Lynch's best.

This movie is full of David Lynchisms..dwarfs, dream sequences, kinky sex. For those not into Lynchisms, it is worth it just for the performance of Naomi Watts... Without revealing the plot, she has a number of personality changes. She is convincing and powerful in every mode. Very sexy too.

This is a movie that must be watched more than once to be able to understand all that is going on. Pay close attention to names. Watch it and then let lots of time go by and then watch it again. I found a few other reviews helpful as well.

..........and you will try to analysis over and over in your head. Most of the movie until the box is opened is a dream. Notice the camera work till then.........its kind of floats like a dream. A movie you cannot stop watching and will want to watch again. And Watts is beautiful.

David Lynch's film is a compelling, disturbing hallucination. An aspiring actress (Naomi Watts) becomes involved with a beautiful amnesiac (Laura Harring) and together they try to piece together the mystery of her identity. Or something like that. This film is really impossible to summarize. The analyses by Randal Robinson and Steve Klemow on this page postulating that the first part of the film is a dream leading to an act of suicide fits in with my impressions of the film, though I have not thought it out in such detail. I'm going to have to watch this one again someday.

Mulholland Drive is a multilevel masterpiece that I enjoy again and again. Own the movie so that you can appreciate its puzzles, artistry, dream symbols, unforgettable characters, and commentaries on the nature of film-making, the nature of evil, and the mysterious connection between our inner and unconscious worlds and external reality. It will provoke emotions ranging from pathos to funny/funny. Naomi Watts gives an unforgettable performance surrounded by marvelous performances. If you watch this movie once and emerge totally confused, don't dispair! There are excellent explanatory reviews that can give you the basic roadmap from dream to reality. If you need help, read a couple of reviews, but find your own meaning! Once you understand that the first part of the movie is dream/delirium you will probably quickly perceive how the dream frays and then breaks, and the main features fall pretty simply into place. If that doesn't work, try Blue Velvet. If you love it, don't hesitate to watch Lost Highway, and on the 13th floor you will finf Inland Empire. Mulholland Drive is a great movie to share. It is a love story. My wife does agree that Winkie's = Denny's but I will never be able to convince her that the evil-personifying "man" behind Winkie's is actually Diane Selwyn's dream substitute for her horrid former roommate. And that is perfectly OK.

Reviewing this film requires the use of a whole new vocabulary of adjectives: cryptic, daedal, gordian, evasive, cabalistic, sagacious. Originally intended to be a television series similar to his earlier series Twin Peaks, David Lynch's Mulholland Drive received critical acclaim when it premiered as a film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. It ranks as Lynch's best film, in my opinion, and even better than Blue Velvet. The erotic-thriller-film-noir-mystery tells the story of two intriguing women, an aspiring actress named Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), who befriends an amnesiac femme fatale, Rita (Laura Harring), whom she finds hiding in her aunt's apartment upon arriving in Los Angeles. For Lynch, LA is as much a "city of dreams" as a the Land of Fallen Angels. Mulholland Drive takes its viewer on a wild and meandering ride into Lynch's Aquarian imagination (characterized by unconventional, inventive, unpredictable, rebellious, eccentric qualities) and into the center of his enigmatic Universe, which does not always make sense to the rational mind. (Nor is it intended to.) This is perhaps reason enough to love this movie. Some things are simply unknowable, and are meant to be experienced. In Lynch's Universe, a film director (Justin Theroux) is having problems with the studio, his wife and the mob. His wife, we learn, is having an affair with the hunky gardener (Billy Ray "Achy Breaky Heart," Cyrus). Another character fears there's a creature lurking behind the local diner. An elderly couple are laughing hysterically. Meanwhile, the Betty and Rita are getting naked together. "Have you done this before?" Betty asks; "I don't know," the amnesiac replies. Is it any wonder ABC execs were afraid to air Mulholland Drive as a television series? Mulholland Drive is pure film genius, a rare experience that will stay with the viewer long after the final credits.

G. Merritt

"Mulholland Drive" is a twisting road, as complicated as a dream...and in this case,a nightmare. David Lynch's enigmatic movie about the film industry has a twofold opening-one seemingly set in Hollywood's Golden Age as Betty (Naomi Watts),the winner of a jitterbug contest,embarks on her career and another as an amnesiac woman,Rita (Laura Harring) searches for a place to stay,along with her identity. A bond develops between Betty&Rita, going from friendship to passion. Simultaneously, Betty is trying out for a '30s-sounding movie titled "The Sylvia North Story" and the director,Adam,is looking for his leading lady,with the help of the mysterious Cowboy. To top it off, Billy Ray Cyrus (he of "Hannah Montana" fame) makes a cameo as the lover of Adam's wife.

Two significant events disrupt the story's otherwise linear path. Betty&Rita go to her former apartment,to find a corpse. Later,they both go to an ominous theater called "Silencio" where a strange singer lip-synchs a Spanish cover of Roy Orbison's "Tears." An announcer says "It's just an illusion. No hay banda (there is no band)."

At this point,the stories overlap&become byzantine. Betty's story is no longer one of success in love&drama. She is now Diane. She loses Rita/Diane/Camilla to Adam,who has also given her the leading lady role. Rita/Diane/Camilla passionately kisses another woman at a party in front of the heartbroken Betty/Diane,showing her twofold nature as bisexual. Betty/Diane has a hit put on Rita/Diane/Camilla,and later,in remorse,shoots herself. It would be simplistic to say this movie shows an evil lesbian meeting her end,or that David Lynch has an Afterschool Special. Who is the dead woman? Who is the real Diane? What really happened between Camilla and Diane? Was it all an illusion?

"Mulholland Drive" is a dreamlike exploration of the dream factory that is Hollywood. It's a surrealistic masterpiece,with an appropriately eerie soundtrack. Naomi Watts is electrifying&Laura Harring joins in the forbidden dance gracefully. "Mulholland Drive" is at once a nightmare&dreamlike.

I was tremendously disappointed in this movie. It was difficult to follow and the acting ranged from average to poor.
This movie is not even worth talking about. All I can say is if you rented this movie by mistake thinking it was "Mullholland Drive" then go see "Drive". It is a much better movie with more believable plot and great acting...plus Jennifer Connelly is in it!

Lynch has difficulty telling a straight story, if you pardon the pun. I don't mind time-bending storylines ("Pulp Fiction," "Memento") but they have to have an underlying, live plot, as opposed to images, mood and style. And the film was too long and too self-involved.

What do I mean by "self-involved"? I'm tired of books about authors ("Wonderboys"), plays about stage performers ("Noises Off"), songs about musicians ("Faithfully") and most of all, films about actors. Quit getting off on yourselves for once. Why three stars? Because Lynch is Lynch. Who else could give you characters like the Cowboy and the Incompetent Hitman?

Dark. Creepy. Eerie. Nightmarish. Surreal. Mysterious. Haunting. Fascinating. A movie that keeps challenging you continuously from the beginning to the end, and even years later. David Lynch's best movie. And one of the finest movies ever made. Do not expect to understand everything in the movie when you watch it for the first time. I didn't, and probably, most people don't. I had heard much about this movie before I watched it for the first time. After I finished watching it, I was like, "What the c**p? What is it trying to say? Doesn't make much sense at all, huh! Pretentious!". No, it didn't make sense. Everything in the movie seemed so incoherent on the surface. But then, it kept coming back to me. The whole movie kept replaying in my mind. I just couldn't get it out. And slowly, things started making sense. And then, a few days later, "Whoa! This is amazing. I can't believe this. David Lynch is a genius!". That was three years ago. Today, the movie has grown on me and still keeps haunting with its bizarre imageries (including the unforgettable last scene).

I don't want to include any spoiler in my review, but let me just say that the movie is actually about a nightmare. This is David Lynch at his best. He has created his own style that no other director can match. Even his other movies look weak compared to this one. The entire cast is great, but I can't help but make a special mention of the amazingly beautiful Laura Harring and the cool Justin Theroux.

Don't judge this movie by the number of stars it has been rated with. If you are looking for a totally new experience and wanting to challenge yourself, "Mulholland Dr." might just turn out to be the ride of your life.

I feel Mulholland Drive is David Lynch's best film. I've seen Blue Velvet and although it is a very good film, this film feels superior. I was more intrigued by this film and Lynch's over indulgence was kept to a minimum in this one. There were less moments there for the sake of being there, even though the end with the old people was vintage Lynch, all the way.

This is a hard film to categorize, it's a psychological thriller, at the same time an erotic thriller, and a pyschological drama. It's a bunch of things, as Lynch does well. Plus, there's more than enough Lynch moments to satisfy the fan and enough non Lynch moments to satisfy the non fan. It will take you for a ride and never let go.

The only extra is the theatrical trailer, there's not even a chapter search, really makes you watch the film. But I'd rather have a chapter feature to go back and find my favorite moments.

Must See.

My first experience to the mind and films that are David Lynch was Lost Highway which personally was just a mess and not only did I not understand it, but it didn't even hold my interest and looking back, I can't remember a thing about it. However, like a lot of times, you just feel like watching a specific movie and for some reason, that was Mulholland Drive so I thought "eh, why not?" so I decided to check it out and while I had to look up what the hell happened and have people explain it to me, I was still hooked into the story and it didn't feel its length or felt confusing for the sake of it.

Keep in mind, this is Lynch stuff so take these with a grain of salt. But anyway, the film opens with an unnamed actress getting into a car wreck on Mulholland Drive in Hollywood. Dazed, she wonders into town and sneaks into a house where aspiring actress Betty is staying. The 2 meet and Bette tries to help the woman, who calls herself Rita, get her memory back. Meanwhile, a film director named Adam Kesher is getting pushed to cast an actress, Camilla Rhodes, into the film and they're incredibly adamant. The film is evidence that things aren't always what they seem and it's the case with the story as well.

David Lynch is the kind of film director where you can't tell if he's just confusing by accident thanks to movie making ineptitude, whether he's a skilled storyteller who likes to skew things just a tad or he's just pretentious and writes as if no one can understand his stuff unless you're him. While the latter was what I felt about Lost Highway, this film feels a bit more confident in its storytelling and despite its strangeness, seems more easier to follow. Of course there's also Lynch's habit of not explaining at all any of his films so any "interpretations" are strictly widely-accepted so people can have different views on what the film really means.

What makes the film a joy to watch is the acting with Naomi Watts and Laura Harring providing most of the legwork and they're just as superb. My only gripe is Justin Theroux who I can't really peg as a character and he doesn't really feel as in-depth as Betty and Rita feel. Not only that but several characters are introduced and disappear just as quickly so even though they're meant to make a certain feeling, you can't help but be annoyed some characters get dropped from the story entirely.

While I can understand Lynch's tendency to skip commentaries or making-of's, it'd be fine if it had chapter stops since you don't want to re-watch 2 and a half hours if you have classes to go to when you're at the 2nd hour mark and start over. But other than that, Mulholland Drive is the kind of film where it's really a love it or hate it but for me, I kinda love it...somehow.

Like Kevin Smith, the first time I saw this film I was stupefied. "What?!" Repeated viewings disabused me of the notion that there was nothing in this film to understand. I now think this is a work of absolute genius

Originally written and filmed as a TV pilot, the ending was only written after the show was rejected. Knowing the history of the genesis of the film only increased my appreciation for its craft, because the ending qualitatively transforms the entire first three quarters of the film. I cannot comprehend how Lynch was able to think of an ending that turned the whole first part of the film on its head, making it meaningful on a completely different, and more subtle layer.

For first time viewers, I can only say that it's important to pay attention to the whole film. Every shot. Colours, symbols, recurring objects and motifs, all play a part in revealing the film's secrets. I can't recommend this movie highly enough.

Amazon got this movie to me very quickly. It was in mint condition too. I was extremely happy with the product; this is a fantastic film. It's Lynch's major work and is enjoyable even to people who don't consider themselves Lynch fans. I'm pleased with my service from Amazon and I will continue to shop with them.

First of all, this is David Lynch's masterpiece. This was the culmination of a career that saw uneven brilliance such as "Wild at Heart", and came before he tumbled into idiocy ("Inland Empire"). As it stands, this film is clearly one of the greatest films of all time (though not better than "Les Enfants du Paradis", my favorite film per se).

This review is to give you an idea of what the film and DVD are about, not to explain the story to you. The film is a multi-dimensional one, with parallel stories going on at one time. If you like surreal, dark and moody films with a film-noir touch, you'll love this. However, don't go in expecting to understand it all at once. You probably won't, and thats quite normal. The beauty of this movie is that yes, you will end it quite confused and wondering if anything made sense, but what I really like is that you can have multiple explanations as to what actually is going on, and ALL of these explanations will be quite valid.

Naomi Watts stars in the best performance of her career - never has the actress been more luminous (not even in her 'well-lit' scenes in 'King Kong'), and she shares screen time with another breakout star, Justin Theroux, who comes into his own in a brilliant performance here. The rest of the cast is uniformly good, and the soundtrack is exceptional.

Rarely do you come across a film that can break across divides and appeal to you intelligence and finer qualities. "Mulholland Drive" is that and more. At once classy and sophisticated, and on the other sinister and morbid, this film has elements of all aspects of human nature, which give it a timeless sheen that only gets better with repeated viewing. Take it from me, I've seen this at least twelve times in the last few years, and always feel like I have more to learn about it.

Get this if you like movies in your collection that you want to watch again. And Five Stars for both Justin Theroux and David Lynch.

On the flipside, this DVD has no chapter-stops, so you need to manually fast-foward to get where you want to for a particular scene. This has never bothered me as I watch the whole thing in a go each time I pop it in. Others have found this an issue, but I recommend that you look beyond this minor flaw and purchase this anyway.

this movie sucks big time! , and i'm being nice! do not buy this at any price!

Yeah, despite the great last Lynch movie Inland Empire, for me this is his greatest movie so far and I personally can't add anything else but enjoy each consecutive time of watching it with unmatched interest in details!

FOR THOSE NEW TO MULHOLLAND DR.:
One of the best films ever (certainly Lynch's best, and this is really saying something) - mysterious, sexy, tragic, surreal, horrifying, hilarious, and well worth your money. Go buy.

FOR THOSE NO LONGER NEW TO MULHOLLAND DR.:
Lots of great reviews so far, yet still so many questions unanswered and even unaddressed. Incredible, huh? Here's some more food for thought:

Have you discovered the secret history of Diane Selwyn yet? The one that partially explains how her character became deranged and got in deep trouble long before she ever set foot in L.A.? It's there in secret code (I'm serious), and goes a long way towards tying together all of those seemingly dangling threads.

Notice anything VERY peculiar about all of the cab drivers Betty rides with? Lynch was dropping some serious clues here, and, looking back, it seems so obvious. And speaking of clues, I believe the ten he included with dvd release are largely tongue-in-cheek.

What is the significance of room #16?

Why did Dan admit he had two nightmares about Winkie's, and not just one? Very important. And speaking of Dan, why was it important that he die in Diane's dream? No, he's not a random or unresolved plot thread...

Were the lesbian sex scenes gratuitous or 100% charged with meaning? Hint: it's the latter.

What year or what decade do you think the story takes place in?

Lastly: Remember what Freud believed the purpose of each and every dream was? If so, you have the key to fully understanding every event and character in Diane's two-hour dream sequence, and, eventually in turn, the entire film.

Note: Your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks.

I've watched this movie many times. It really requires concentration, and I think it has to be watched several times. I don't like long reviews for movies I haven't seen, so I'll be brief for those who haven't seen "Mulholland Drive."

The movie begins with a young women is sitting in the backseat of a fancy car at night. The car pulls over, and just as one of the men in the front seat is about to shoot her, a carload of teenagers crashes into them, killing them all except for the young women. The woman wanders down the hill to Mulholland Drive, sleeps outside behind some shrubs, then sneaks into a condo, where she is found by the new resident (another young woman--actually the same woman).

Like I say, you just have to watch the movie several times to catch everything. It's very strange with some fantastic scenes.

The cowboy scene is worth the whole movie. It's really funny, but done in a deadly serious manner. Super!

Wow, what a strange film. It's a David Lynch movie so it's no surprise that it is weird.

I defy anyone to totally explain everything in this film. I can't be done. After some research following my second viewing of this film several years ago, I pretty much know most of the story but on a first look, and with no aid from other reviewers or outside help, it is hard to figure things out. So, if you're in that boat and was confused, don't feel bad; that's normal. Let me just say the key to the film is Naomi Watts' character.

At any rate, I find the film fascinating, no matter how many times I watch it. I love the wonderful visuals and rich colors and find each character in this movie really different and fun to watch. The camera-work is excellent and the music is creepy, a la Lynch's "Blue Velvet." There also are some good sound effects to help some of the dramatic scenes. In all, it's very well scored.

The theme of the story, supposedly, is a negative comment about Hollywood and what it does to people, especially those whose dreams of being an actor are crushed.

I like this film very much, I'm not sure if it really makes sense but I don't think it is necessarily supposed to - its making appears to have been an organic process that is more or less open to cohesive interpretation.

I don't think clarity or coherence is necessarily a weakness however, adult viewers, generally, don't want to be spoon-fed the plot details - it is much more satisfying to work out what is going on and be able to offer various different assessments of what that is. Ultimately such a film is liable to tell us something of our own fears and stage of development in life as we attempt to apprehend a thread.

The central themes revolve around identity, self-delusion, lack of control. We aspire to become something better and beyond what we are and often delude ourselves into thinking that we can become more than we in reality can be. The character(s) of Betty/Diane is in an amalgam of a dream, hallucination or delusional state but it might also be seen that all the characters are figments of a dream/illusion that is not being dreamt by anyone in particular - in this film the unreality particularly pertains to the Hollywood dream factory, but it could equally apply, albeit in generally less strong measure, to all walks of life.
People change and exchange roles all the time, we move to different places, different work environments, different situations and we attempt to fit in or to impose ourselves on our new situations. A measure of how successful we are in fitting in relates to the extent to which we identify to a bigger perspective at the expense of individuality. Constraints on such success are often beyond our control, we rationalize our existence and lie a little to ourselves in order to fit in to the new 'objectified' world that we perceive that is ultimately illusory...the 'wahn' - an emergent higher order perception that exists only within the confounds of the particular environment.
Sometimes things happen that break us out of this 'wahn', this illusion, and we become self-aware - that is we perceive how different we are and in what ways we do not fit in... our perception of the illusory world becomes internalized and we thus have, and simultaneously question, our individual identity.
The characters in Mulholland Drive, at different stages in the film, exhibit loss of such individual identity. 'Rita' does not know who she is but aptly labels herself with the first name of a famous actress, her confident character Camilla Rhodes in the latter third of the film is really just a product manufactured by Hollywood, she has found her place at the expense of her sense of self. Betty is a confident and independent character aspiring to be a part of the Hollywood dream. When, in the latter third, she becomes Diane, it is not clear if her life as Betty was a dream or perhaps a somewhat glossed sense of herself as confident newby apt to fit into Hollywood but whose ultimate frustration at not being accepted by Hollywood led to pained internalized perception of the world - Diane possibly being a new name that she chooses in order to fit in but without success. Adam Kescher fits in by accepting his lack of identity in the film project over which he thought he originally had some control - he becomes another product of Hollywood who loses interest in artistic integrity as an expression of individual identity. His sense of self becomes occluded in the 'wahn', individual reality drowned by an externalized bigger re-presentation of the world imposed by the Hollywood dream factory and commercial interests.
Essentially we see dreams and aspirations of fitting into some bigger picture soaking up individual identity and control.

This is how I identify with the film. I think it is one thread but I don't pretend to offer a definitive interpretation of a film which probably does not yield this. The use of music and cinematography speaks to us at the level of the subconscious: the strangely spooky black monster, the clairvoyant woman, the club silencio - all evocative and seemingly demonstrative of our fears relating to lack of both self-knowledge and 'external reality'.

The first time I saw Mullholland Drive, I was impressed by it, but also more than a little confused, like many viewers, specially in the second part of the movie. After watching it two more times, I believe it is a true masterpiece, with a wonderful clockwork screenplay: many things that look arbitrary in a first viewing, came neatly into place after repeated sightings. The movie is structured in two parts (SPOILERS INCLUDED, don't read if you haven't yet seen it): a real part and a dream part. While the real part comes first chronologically, Lynch shows the dream first. In the "real" part, Diane (Naomi Watts) is one of those many girls that arrived in Hollywood from small towns throughout North America dreaming of getting a big break in the silver screen. Unfortunately for her, she is a mediocre actress. In a casting, she meets another actress called Camila (Laura Harring), who gets the main role. They become friends, get to live together, and eventually fall in love. Camila becomes successful in town, and she helps Diane in getting small roles in the movies she stars in. But Camila falls in love with one of her directors, Adam, so she and Diane splits bitterly. Some time later, Camila invites Diane to a party, where she is humiliated by the guests, and becomes silently enraged when Camila and Adam become engaged. In that party, she mets a few individuals (a man with a cowboy hat, Adam's mother) that would later appear in her dreams, in another roles. (Here Lynch deftly understands the logic of dreams, where people one knows usually appear under different names or roles). After the party, Diane hires a hit-man to kill Camila. He tells her that when the job is done, he will drop a blue key under her door. When Diane later finds the key and becomes aware than Camila is dead, she becomes remorseful, and shots herself. As she agonizes between life and death, Diane has a last dream, which is the first part of the movie. In the dream, Diane is the great actress she wishes she has been. As in the real part, she arrives in Hollywood for a movie career, but unlike reality, in the dream she is talented and successful. In her apartment, she founds an amnesic woman (who has the face of Camila). As for Adam, since she hates him for being engaged with Camila, she imagines him in horrible situations, cheated by his wife, being forced by mobsters in making his movies in a way he doesn't like. The cowboy Diane met at the party appears here as scaring Adam into picking another actress for the main role in the movie. The hit-man she hired is presented as impossibly clumsy, perhaps in her secret desire that he didn't do his job well. There are many things more, but I hope you get the idea of the structure present in the movie, and why it is not arbitrary but has its own impeccable logic. This is Lynch's best film, with a superb screenplay, and a nifty understanding of dream logic.

I have yet to find anyone who understood this film. I certainly didn't.
David Lynch offers great music background, but too far out for me.

This was the first David Lynch film I had ever seen. I was hesitant at first because after watching it I was like what the heck did I just watch but with some help I found an explanation of the events of the film that seemed to make the most sense to me. David Lynch's work is frustrating at first but if you are looking for a thinking movie and a freaky movie, then look into this one.

In addition, look into Lost Highway as well but I don't recommend buying the "USA" version (it's a Canadian manufactured import) currently as it is not the quality befitting of Lynch's greatness. Unfortunately, there are apparently other "good" versions out there but they are not made for Region 1 DVD players. Who knows if it will ever get an official United States release (it's ten years old now) but for now, rent it, enjoy it, but don't buy the Canadian import version.

Bizarre, hypnotic, and darkly dreamlike, this enigmatic mystery from "Blue Velvet" director Lynch cloaks the City of Dreams in a lush, noirish atmosphere, wringing every last drop of weirdness from its tricky double-narrative structure. Conceived as a series for ABC (imagine that!), "Drive" may elude straightforward logic, but keeps us hooked with the jolting appearance of strangers, corpses, odd changes of identities, and a voyeuristic sex scene that manages to be both disturbing and intensely erotic. Watts gives a particularly intriguing performance as alluring innocent Betty. Spooky and irresistible, "Drive" delivers a deliciously creepy take on Hollywood ambition.

Don't take this review too seriously. . . I had to go to several web sites to
figure out what the movie was about. . . but I was greatly entertained by all of the things that I didn't understand. Closure isn't necessarily a property of enjoyable art. The movie is fascinating at the very least. It seems like film noir to me.