Lost Highway (1997/Focus DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: D Film: C
I’ve
never taken acid. David Lynch’s Lost Highway is what I’d imagine acid to feel
like. Nothing makes sense, there are long periods of time where it feels
like nothing is happening, people change identities, creepy old men are creepy
and old, yet somehow the whole experience is at least a little enjoyable in the
end. I think.
Bill Pullman stars as Fred Madison, an impotent jazz musician that is
framed for the murder of his wife Renee, played by Patricia Arquette. He
is sent to prison, where he transforms into Peter Dayton, a young auto mechanic
that has an affair with the girlfriend of a porn directing mob boss, Patricia
Arquette again and Robert Loggia, respectfully.
They decide to run away together, commit murder, and then turn back into
Fred and Renee, and that was the point at which I completely lost where the
plot went.
This is
the third of David Lynch’s films that I’ve seen, the first two being Mulholland Drive and the first hour of Eraserhead. I enjoy the former
quite a bit, and just didn’t have time to finish the latter when I’d rented
it. However, I found myself getting sick with Lynch’s overly surreal
style rather quickly. The same reaction held true for this film.
The weird was weird, but didn’t make any sense; I think that being weird for
the sake of being weird is a waste of time, and especially in the case of this
film, it didn’t help drive the film forward. In addition, and this is a
huge problem that I had with The Coen Brothers’ No Country For Old Men, is that there were large spaces of time
where nothing happened. Nothing.
It reminded me of if Kevin Arnold’s voice over was removed from The Wonder Years and people would stand
around and stare at each other.
One
saving grace that this DVD re-release has going for it is that the film has
finally been returned to its 2.35:1 aspect ratio, anamorphically enhanced here.
That’s honestly the coolest part about the DVD. It offers Dolby Digital
5.1 sound, but that’s become standard on DVDs these days, and no DTS like
several versions released overseas. There are no special features. None. There’s scene selection and
subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Looking
back, the last time Lynch had a movie that turned a profit was in 1989. From a business standpoint, I have to ask -
why is this man still making movies? I’m a huge supporter of the cult
film, but they’re loved by few and these days are paid for by less than its
fans. In the case of Lost Highway,
go in expecting little and leave expecting to have your brain melting out of
your ears. David Lynch – I think I’m done with you.
- Jordan Paley
