Lost Highway

Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER SURREALIST FILM FROM THE DIRECTOR DAVID LYNCH.
Review: "Lost Highway" presents several of David Lynch's trademarks: dark environments, inexplicable situations, sexually obsessed characters and a non-linear story.

Always is interesting to see a movie from the experimental director David Lynch, so "Lost Highway" has interesting parts, however, sometimes it gives the sensation that the only person in the world that is pleased with the events on-screen is David Lynch, and that is a bad thing because the movie fans are the main reason why the movies are made.

But putting that aside, "Lost Highway" is an interesting exercise of film experimentation. The highlight may be Robert Blake as "The Mystery Man", he is really a creepy character.

Rating:
Summary: A Woman's Life Makes A Life Like Mine...
Review: I'm glad other reviewers have seen the same thing in this story - that Bill Pullman's character is in a kind of personal hell, reliving his murder of his own wife.

Just listen to the song by Hank Williams. I heard for the first time a year and a half after I saw the movie and it put the whole thing into perspective for me.

I saw this years ago in the theatre, so beyond that, all I remember are beautiful colors, Robert Blake calling himself on the phone (and looking just like Richard Benson - The Avenger!), and a stunning Patricia Arquette. However, I'm game for another viewing after these reviews.

If you're just starting out with David Lynch, a good jump off point is The Elephant Man and Wild At Heart, then segue into the wierder stuff with Blue Velvet and Eraserhead (that movie makes me ill), maybe even Dune if that's your cup of tea.

Rating:
Summary: Confusing, disobedient, nauseating, and I liked it very much
Review: "Lost Highway" is not as linear, and thus satisfying to our narrative desire, as "Mulholland Drive" because it indeed seems to try too hard to be weird. But David Lynch is one of the only directors who understands how strangely dreamlike cinema itself can be. Like Hitchcock, he exploits this situation for all its worth, but in the manner of the classic surrealists, and I think this movie can be best experienced in the setting of an actual theater.
This film's terrain is even more deeply subconscious than "Mulholland Drive", because its ultimate subject seems to be the act of watching a narrative movie itself, as channeled through a paragon of truth in our society: Crime scene photos. This is what makes it interesting. It's so open-ended, though, that it allows every viewer their own personal interpretation, because the "surface plot" is mixed up with its own interpretative clues...My take is that Fred Madison believes he was convicted of murdering his wife based on the images contained in the last videotape which is delivered to he and Renee (Patricia Arquette); during the first act, the most crucial line is his declaration that he doesn't like cameras because he prefers to remember things his own way--"not necessarily the way they happened." This entire first section of the film is the way Fred remembers his life before being incarcerated, and takes place in the space of a second--after he is punched in the face by the arresting police officer. Believing in the mysterious tapes which preceded the murder is his way of trying to convince himself that he didn't do it--that the Mystery Man (Robert Blake as wifekiller--ironic, eh?) actually did.
The second part, less effective due to its lighter tone, is Madison's way of escaping the reality of the electric chair. The light above his cell flickers and buzzes as presumably someone is being executed, which triggers his fantasy of escaping by physically becoming another person. Yet even in the life of this younger man, Renee returns (as a double...?) and he is free to begin a life with her without the memory of his marriage, but learns the sordid truth about her life...The Mystery Man again shows up, this time helping him commit conscious murder of her former pimp--and allowing it to be videotaped to convince himself that this murder (which Fred may have committed before the movie begins) was right. But who the hell knows...The plot? I mapped this film out after I saw it the first time, and there are too many doubles of whose nature we as viewers cannot trust as either physical reality or mental projection. Each interpretation points at the other--like the Moebius strip Lynch claims the film embodies. It's more like a puzzle structured around themes, mostly a subtext involving photography--the photo of the twins, the porn movies, the creepy videotapes which show up on their doorstep like evil calling cards.

Be sure to get a letterboxed version of this film; Lynch's visual compositions are based upon horizontal angles all throughout, and there are many extreme close-ups in which the tops of heads are truncated (for some malevolent intent, I'm sure). The cinematography is great, and the sound track (not the music, but the atmospherics which Lynch always meticulously makes himself) is as important as the images, just as in "Eraserhead."
And after watching a particular scene in this film, you'll be very careful around glass tables with sharp edges for the rest of your life...

Rating:
Summary: David Lynch style Twilight Zone
Review: I simply cannot wait for Lost Highway to hit the DVD bandwagon,
but unfortunately, I must. The film is a enigma, since that is where it's true beauty lies. A film with a plot with no plot.
Robert Blake's Mystery Man, is he a devil, or a twisted Jimminy
Cricket? The cool thing is the film explains nothing, in which
the Mystery Man is anything you want him to be. Creepiest film
moment: The Cell Phone Scene. If you are looking for a movie
that you can watch repeatedly and find something different with
each viewing, Lost Highway is the way to go.

Rating:
Summary: What it's worth
Review: I am going to try to keep this simple as possible. I am troubled to hear that people 'understood' this movie; the 'solution' is nonexistent, furthermore intelligence doesn't help. There is... no plot, no meaning, no definitive ending. To use a bit of elitist jargon, this film is metaphysical-impressionism. As it appears, Lynch is a romanticist improvising each scene disconcerted with coherency and rather concerned with "shock effect." It is in this way that the film has no artistic worth. However, piecemeal (described by Ebert) this film is quiet genius. Each scene is original, well acted, and inherently intellectually intriguing. I don't recommend this movie, but I did however enjoy it. If you enjoy Nietzschen philosophy give it a try.

Rating:
Summary: stylish, sexy and master stroke of a genius !
Review: The first thing I couldnt help observing was that Lynch doesnt make movies to please the conformistic and intellectually un-stimulated audiences. Very rarely do you find people who take their work to a level where they do not genuinely bother about the impending financial ramifications of their art.

The brilliance of Lynch lies in capturing a distinct post-modernistic aura while not heeding to that familiarly compulsive habit of modern day directors to opt for stereotyped symbolism or complicated logic, but concentrating instead on surrealistic visual images that nevertheless are immensely appealing to any mature viewer with a broader sense of aesthetics. Those who find it hard to appreciate his highly refined sensibilities and harp merely on the obviosly chaotic storyline are not appreciating his art in a holistic manner.

IMO, this is much better than his later work, Mulholland Drive, in terms of the sheer delightful lushness of the situations, the adept and smooth pacing and last but not the least, the inimitably stylized nature of his direction. Therefore, it surely is a must see for all open minded, critical minded movie buffs.

Rating:
Summary: too artsy fartsy
Review: i didn't think this movie was all that good. its not that the movie was bad in terms of acting it was just that the plot was simply too "mushy." the movie has its moments of being intriging but overall it was an artsy fartsy mess with a message too dark for ordinary non-depressed people to understand. if you dont think there is a message to the film or your still thinking about it u should stick to your usual happy films and not watch this movie.

Rating:
Summary: blehhh!
Review: avoid at all costs. it's slow, dark, and goes nowhere.

Rating:
Summary: Another Lynch classic.
Review: I am not going to offer up my explaination of the film because A) Some people really just find this movie to make no sense, B) Each individual who views Lost Highway will get their own interpretation from it, and C) It would take to damn long. Like "The Arm" in Twin Peaks: FWWM, Robert Blake plays an eerie character that factors into all the madness taking place. I'm sure people will say this is the type of film that yuppies discuss while sipping a 5 dollar cup of coffee at Starbucks, but this movie is the real deal. Lynch has a mind that no one will ever figure out, and perhaps it's better that we never do. If you liked Blue Velvet, and Fire Walk With Me, you will enjoy the mindbending insanity of Lost Highway.

Rating:
Summary: Here is the simple Explanation!
Review: I don't understand why everyone has a hard time interpreting this film. Here is the simple philosopical plot alright! Patrica Arquette plays Renee Madison Fred Madison (Bill Pullman)Wife. Fred Madison is obcessed with her..so obcessed that he can't even hold his end of the bargain in bed. She isn't obviously a true Human being and several clues reveal that in the movie. She is also cheating on him and he suspects it. Also there is another person in the movie (Short Guy with a Pale Face) which really would be considered the Devil or a deciple of. His face was also seen in the film emerged with hers..one can only figure they are the same person because they are never seen in the same frame. Fred goes to Prison for the murder of his wife which he didn't commit. But for some reason he is being tortured by the devil you can only suspect. He tranformes into a guy that was killed on the highway the night before and was released from prison. Renee comes back but only this time her name is Alice to reak havoc on his existance again. Does Pete/Fred fall for her again ? Yes he does and he ends up right back were he started! He kills several people for the obcession of her and later finds out she really doesn't exist. Also he finds out who she really is in the cabin. The key to this movie is ...Haven't we met before? At your House remember? Basically this is a struggle of Obcession over a woman that is extremley sexy and attractive. Obviously we have all been there but I think not to this extent. This movie just shows that when you worship something more than your self ..were it can get you. The movie has a lot of twist and turns and unexplained portions and questions to be pondered over. Over all though it is a great movie ...Fred Madison just was a tormented man that didn't love himself and obcessed with a woman that was basically the devil and he paid for it ..and was sentenced to Hell on earth. Alice wigfield and Renee Madison are both played by Patricia Arquette. Fred Madison also finds out that Alice is Renee and that she never loved or cared about him in the end. She is an extreme product of deception,Manipulation and evil. There are even Hints in the movie were Alice is on screen doing a porno with Marilyn Mansion. Get ready for the ride of your life...I hope this explains this film to you i ful retrospect! If anyone agrees after watching let me know!