Lost Highway
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Movie Reviews of Lost Highway
Movie Review: An Awesome Ride on the "Lost Highway"
Summary: 5 Stars
My favorite of all David Lynch's films, "Lost Highway" isn't a film for everybody. It's a dense and complex creepshow with many of the same elements that made "Twin Peaks" "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive" so rewarding to watch. And, like those projects, "Lost Highway" demands patience and a willingness to forego a traditional linear narrative to gain access to the beautiful, brutal, and disturbing worlds that Lynch creates on film. You have to open up your mind and just go with what's happening onscreen, otherwise you'll be hopelessly lost and/or frustrated. By the end of the movie, you'll either be enlightened or you won't, but it's a helluva ride anyway.
In "Lost Highway", Bill Pullman does a brilliant reversal of his often bland, reassuring screen persona, performing the role of Fred, a cuckholded, middle-aged saxophonist living an unhappy American Dream with his sexy, faithless wife, Renee (well-cast Patricia Arquette as an auburn haired vixen). Fred's dream becomes a nightmare when he discovers that someone is apparently coming into his home and filming him and Renee as they sleep. After meeting a particularly creepy Robert Blake at a party, things go downhill quickly. Following an almost Kafkaesque chain of events, Fred finds himself accused of a particularly horrific murder. Tried, convicted, and sentenced to die, he finds himself locked in solitary confinement in a prison that seems to have no other inmates. The only others present are two guards (one played by musician Henry Rollins) and an elderly doctor. After experiencing severe headaches and convulsions, Fred awakens in the cell as Pete (Balthazar Getty). Dumbfounded as to how the much-younger Pete awakened in Fred's cell, the authorities ship Pete home to live with his biker parents. Back on the job at the auto mechanic shop, Pete meets up with an aging gangster (wonderfully played by Robert Loggia) and is introduced to Alice, the gangster's mistress (also played by Patricia Arquette--this time as a blonde kewpie doll). Suffice it to say, it isn't long before Pete is slinking around with Alice in back-street motels, and you know that the gangsters aren't far behind. Carnage ensues, with some erotic layovers for the lovers, before a bizarre, beautifully filmed finale in the desert.
Aside from the expert performances and the gorgeous, haunting cinematography that has become a Lynch trademark, the soundtrack really stands out--it's probably the best of any of Lynch's films. I recommend "Lost Highway" for film lovers who aren't hidebound in their viewing tastes.
Movie Review: Intense, brilliant, memorable....Lynch's least known masterpiece....
Summary: 5 Stars
Many talk about Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire as Lynch's mind melters, but this was the first film of his (other than Eraserhead) to really push the surreal, nightmare, "dream" "logic" that has permeated his films since (except for The Straight Story).
I was always a fan of Lynch's, but this film was a genuine surprise when I saw it. Siskel and Ebert, who I admired very much when I was young but became disillusioned with them in the 90's when they recommended practically everything they saw, dissed this film. The poster in the newspaper said "Two thumbs down! Siskel and Ebert. Two more great reasons to see Lost Highway.". Well, that was the keeper. I saw it, I loved it, and it's Lynch's most underrated film.
Everything thing in this film works, from the great, complex script, to the moody, intense cinematography, to the great sound design (and exemplary use of music). It was made in 1995 during a decade not known for artistic films. It has great performances (especially by Patricia Arquette and Robert Blake). It has great scenes, like the one where Bill Pullman "calls" his own home from Blake's cell phone, and Blake is at Pullman's home. It still creeps me out. It's also the last film by Richard Pryor, who was confined to a wheelchair due to his multiple scerosis. The film never lets up in its intensity. There are no dull momments in its 135 minute running time. You will be transfixed.
This film doesn't make any literal sense, but if you surrender to the nightmare of it, it's pretty damn awesome. It's one of Lynch's most memorable, mesmerizing works, a great precursor to his later "nightmare" masterpieces, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire.
Movie Review: Lost Highway
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw my first Lynch film last fall (Mulholland Dr) and quickly became fascinated with this perplexing, warped and brilliant director. His earlier work, such as Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, presents an interesting mix of campy melodrama and brutally violent realism, which is interesting but somewhat jarring as the two formulas don't quite seem to compliment each other.
Lost Highway is a different kind of Lynch film, completely consistent in tone and (I would argue) coherent in structure and philosophy. I haven't seen Fire Walk With Me, but it's clear that Lynch took a major step forward between Wild at Heart and this one. Lost Highway moves slowly but steadily, weaving a sense of foreboding that doesn't let up even when the worst has apparently happened. The tension is unremitting, and even the humor (in a neat trick that is distinctly Lynchian) does nothing to alleviate the sense of menace.
There are a lot of different interpretations of the story, but the one I find most convincing is that we are watching the main character's mind construct a fantasy to protect him from the knowledge that he killed his wife, while an uglier but more honest part of his mind tries to shove that very same fact into his face. There is not necessarily a right answer, but I think this one explains a lot of things very elegantly. In any case, there are plenty of clues in the film to help you form a coherent idea of what it's about, and as long as you enjoy this sort of challenge I think you'll enjoy Lost Highway as well.
Movie Review: What The %&@$#*!! Did I Just Watch?!
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember seeing Eraserhead many years ago at an "art" theater in the town where I lived. To that time, I had never seen filmmaking that was so bizarre, dark and twisted - yet strangely compelling. I have been a David Lynch fan ever since and have enjoyed (if that is even the right term) all of his subsequent films.
I first saw Lost Highway many years ago as a rental VHS. A friend and I sat in silence through the entirety of the film and after the credits rolled, we both turned to each other and said "what the hell did we just see?" After much discussion, we decided that we didn't really understand the "plot", but somehow the movie had mesmerized us anyway.
That is the magic of David Lynch - the ability to open up little glimpses into the dark corners of our subconscious and draw us in with a look or a phrase or an image from the character on the screen. His movies will bounce you around like a pinball and in the end leave you wondering and guessing, but isn't that a refreshing change from most of the "crap" that passes as filmmaking these days?
I watched Lost Highway again (for the second time) today and confess I am no wiser about anything other than maybe some subtle details. I did, however, enjoy the movie every bit as much as the first viewing - and maybe more.
If you are a fan of romantic comedies, this probably isn't the film for you. However, if you are more adventurous in your selections then I think you will love this film as much as I do.
Movie Review: Lost Highway (2008, DVD)
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoy Lost Highway and have been waiting years for this 2008 DVD release. I avoided buying the previous 'import' version due to the explicit consumer complaints regarding the quality of the transfer. My potential concerns regarding sound and picture quality were allayed upon viewing this new U.S. release. It looks and sounds quite good, bearing in mind the source material. The visual style of the film is sparse, simple, and high-contrast -- rendered with Lynch's "vague America" aesthetic. The image maintains its integrity and the deep blacks employed do not suffer from noise often seen in older or poor transfers; the colors are also solid for a DVD. The sound design is suitably moody, ambient, dark, evocative, provocative, and intersperses a fairly eclectic mixture of songs with the invaluable contributions of composer Angelo Badalamenti. There can be a slightly irritating difference in volume between Patricia Arquette's near-whispering and, say, Rammstein -- but this is not an uncommon problem with DVDs. Otherwise it sounds pretty cool.
I'm not going to review the film but I will say the complete lack of special features is more forgivable for such an unusual, ambiguous, and artistic film as Lost Highway than any other movie I can think of right now. I tend to view this film the way I view abstract art: explanation is not only unwarranted but also largely undesirable. In other words, special features could be intriguing but I hardly miss them for a movie like Lost Highway.