Rating: 
Summary: All style, no substance
Review: What the heck is going on in this movie? Is it a dream? No, not exactly. More like David Lynch's real-life nightmare; Mulholland Drive is a very adpet last-chance compromise for a project that wasn't meant to be.Basically, the movie originated as a t.v. show, but the pilot got rejected. So, using the actual footage from the pilot, lynch decided to transform a serial television series - which would have presumably developed over a couple of years - into a two hour movie. He got a few million dollars and wrapped the thing up with an additional 45 minutes or so of footage. You can see the remnants of this all over the place in the movie - first and foremost, its an inexplicable enigma, an absolute mess with no sense or logic to it all. 'Oh, but that's just lynch.' 'It was all a dream.' 'It's a parallel dimension.' 'It's schizophrenia.' wrong. it's a big cop-out. The reason it doesn't make sense is quite simple: there is too much too make sense of; it was intended to be flushed out through a few seasons on t.v. There are plot developments which are left hanging, such as the two detectives at the beginning of the movie, that probably would have been addressed in another episode of the television show.
the funny thing is, every single scene in the movie is masterfully crafted, and for that lynch deserves some credit. And the acting is wonderful. But, when you put it all together, it doesn't quite work.
Rating: 
Summary: A Borgesian Labyrinth of a Film
Review: David Lynch has outdone himself in this cautionary tale on the perils of Hollywood. Mulholland Drive draws the viewer into a nightmarish labyrinth that could have come from the pages of a Jorge Luis Borges novel - a swirling vortex of dream and reality that pulls you into the sometimes comical, often terrifying but ultimately tragic experience of Diane Selwyn, an aspiring actress who finds herself way over her head in a decayed, heartless Los Angeles. With superficial homages to Chinatown and Sunset Boulevard, more accurately Mulholland Drive resembles Persona, Three Women, and Jacob's Ladder in questioning the nature of individual identity and reality, as Diane's psyche shatters into the perky, rational Betty and the emotional, frightened Rita. The viewer may be frustrated in searching for a logical narrative, but (for those willing to suspend disbelief) on an emotional, almost subliminal level the pieces fall into place. (Just for the record, Lynch outlines the bare bones of the narrative, almost as an afterthought, at the dinner party, when Coco's questions draw the pertinent details from Diane.) As in any maze, there are frustrating false leads (the Mafia angle) and dead ends (the black book) , but the emotional momentum of the film builds to an overwhelming feeling of dread and existential terror, that culminates in Diane's final escape from her broken dream. This tour de force uses images and themes galore (bags, boxes, keys, mirrors, and reflected images) as signposts in Diane's journey, too many to discuss here, but I have to mention the dream within a dream which outlines the story: the short segment of the two men (analogues to Rita and Betty) in the cafe. The dark haired dreamer is led on by the rational detective in the same way that Rita is led by Betty, in Nancy Drew fashion, into the Sierra Bonita apartment. Both scenes result in a confrontation with death incarnate, and anticipate the enigmatic performance piece "Silencio". As Betty and Rita cry and cling to each other, they watch Diane's pain and death in yet another guise - the singer who collapses onstage. Having unlocked the box of her own mortality, for Diane (as it will be for us all one day) the rest is silence. Naomi Watts and Laura Harring are amazing in their roles, and the rest of the cast is first rate, especially Ann Miller as the perceptive, no-nonsense Coco. The score, editing, and cinematography all contribute to help make this David Lynch's most impressive film to date.
Rating:
Summary: What da fuh?
Review: Only David Lynch knows what this is about. I don't pretend to understand it. I don't think anyone really understands it. They may have opinions about it and that, I think is the point of this film. It's not narratively friendly at all. People who need closure will not like "silencio" as a final scene. The film evokes feeling. It's a series of scenes loosely, if at all connected. But each scene is like a film unto itself. They all fit together in the puzzle that is this film, because they don't belong in any other. I hate people who have simplified this film as "a dream". That's an easy way out. It could be a dream, but that's not the definition of this film. This film, to me, seems like a look inside Lynch's mind. It could be a look into our mind, because it makes us ask ourselves, "what is going on here?" It is absolutely enjoyable to one person and the worst piece of dreck to another, and either opinion is completely valid. I think this film will appeal to fans of "Memento". It should also appeal to Lynch's breed and to people who enjoy a visceral experience. This film is an experience. The camerawork is top-notch. The music couldn't be better. The acting is 4 stars. The film is Lynch's.
Rating:
Summary: A film to lose yourself in. Forever.
Review: David Lynch will never be able to shock or disorient us again - when we go to his films, we know exactly what we're going to get. And I think this realisation has liberated him - he can now concentrate on being simply brilliant. 'Mulholland Dr.' is easily his best work since 'Blue Velvet'. It is one of those rare films that, as you first watch it, you know it is just an introductory taster, that you will revisit it again and again, like 'Vertigo', finding your imagination adapting to its kaleidoscopic movements, taking new paths leading you to different places. It's a lot like 'Vertigo', actually (right down to Naomi Watts' grey dress-suit), a genuine visual labyrinth without a centre - watching it is like taking a journey you can never end. It does for LA what Hitchcock's film did for San Francisco, and in its tale of doubles, dreams, transformations, ghosts, inexplicable crimes, shadowy conspiracies, intimations of violence, alternative stories and parallel universes, overpowering emotions, fetishes and tenderness, fragments and juxtapositions, it resurrects certain ghosts of the city - its mythic dream of d.i.y. success; Hollywood's sordid lengends and failures beneath the bright glamour and success; its Spanish history submerged by cowboy greed. Like 'Vertigo', like 'Blue Velvet', 'Mulholland' is a psychic journey that is also a trip through a real space; it is full of gateways, dark passages and locked (Pandora's) boxes opening onto proliferating dimensions. It is an amateur detective story that leads from genre into the self, into one's sexuality, into one's own breakdown. The story begins with a radiant innocent freed from parental authority, like Jeffrey Beaumont, with wholesome dreams, who discovers the rotting temporality of the body. Lynch has been here before (the film can also be seen as a female counterpart to 'Lost Highway'), but this time the merely weird is transcended, the odd fragments rooted in a sublime and generous and vulnerable central relationship, shoring against the ruins of identity, memory and the Infernal Hollyood machine, whose seductive fires entice its willing victims towards it. Lynch's use of space and spatial relations (especially up and below) is as masterly as that of sound, composition and performance. The familiar, barmy Lynchian self-contained scenes of deadpan comedy and vicious violence (including the most hilariously inept hit in cinema history) are now a striking, moving counterpoint to the central, elusive relationship. The doors to 'Mulholland Dr.' will remain forever open. And closed.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies ever made
Review: It's been a long time (probably since 1980's "Ordinary People") that a movie has stayed inside my head a full week after seeing it, but "Mulholland Drive" refuses to budge. There is definitely a storyline here, and as time passes after seeing it, quite a clear one. I can't wait to see it again. I do recommend that you don't see it alone, or at night. The entire cast shines, but Naomi Watts is a revelation. Give her the Oscar. This is a flat-out star-making performance.
Rating:
Summary: in dreams
Review: Okay, so here's my take, which required a second viewing to "get." You'll notice as the film begins we see a blurry image of a pillow. This is Diane's pov before falling asleep to dream. What follows, beginning with the botched hit, is Diane's dream post ordering the hit on her ex-girlfriend. In her dream, the ex-girlfriend is exactly what she was not at the end of their relationship: controllable. Camilla, as "Rita" is literally in "Betty's" fingertips. This "dream" also allows Diane to experience the acting success she probably never experienced in real life (i.e. stunning audition) and, more importantly, the ability to live in a movie (the whole dream reality is like a flim noir, and Betty gets a total kick out of it.) Also, Diane hates the man who stole Camilla from her, the film director, so in her dream she gives him one hell of a bad day. She also fears that the hit has been carried out and in her dream, the hitman she hired is depicted as a completely inept guy. Then Diane wakes up and we experience the key moments in her relationship with Camilla that led to her ordering the hit. (initial break-up, discovering her with director, final straw the party where Camilla totally blows Diane off)and, once she discovers the key, a sign that the hit has happened, she kills herself.
Rating:
Summary: i've told every little star...
Review: oh my god !!! i don't know if my review will even come close to doing this masterpiece any kind of justice but i must share my feelings about this movie. i am still holding my breath from such excitement and i'm practically in a state of semi-lucid haziness but how could one feel any less than astonished after seeing david lynch's greatest work. i have always been an advocate lover of lynch or lynchian films so it should come to no surprise that i had fallen in love with this film too but this nearly blew my mind. as far as acting and subplots go, mulholland drive is lynch's best work since blue velvet but it does remind one of twin peaks at times. although i don't feel cheated at all by the film and will purchase it from amazon.com once the dvd is available for purchase, i would've liked to have seen this as a miniseries(which lynch originally intended it to be) as i became thoroughly involved with the characters here and the dreamy imagery is still stuck in my head. probability suggests i won't forget this film for some time to come and i will often think of the intelligent dialogue, mysterious imagery, and haunting music score. long live david lynch !!!!
Rating:
Summary: Three times and counting........
Review: I've seen this film three times so far (and plan to see it again)and still haven't tired of it. This is definitely Lynch's best picture since "Fire Walk With Me" (leaving out the wonderful "Straight Story," which is a Lynch-horse of a different color) and should rank up there with "Blue Velvet." The thing I wonder the most about is, how can a film that eschews traditional narrative and plotting generate such a strong emotional response? Why do I cry with the heroines at Rebekah Del Rio's stunning rendition of Roy Orbison's "Crying"? Why is it so palpably scary to look into an amnesiac's purse? It's hard to explain -- you have to see the movie to understand what I'm talking about. (Those of you who were lucky enough to see the Squonk Opera show on Broadway a couple years back may know what I'm talking about. That's another example of a non-traditional, non-linear performance that had incredible emotional power.) In any case, I can only agree with the other folks who gave this movie a high ranking. Even if you don't "get" it all (and I don't, even after three viewings), if you're open to Lynch's peculiar magic you'll find it quite an experience. Ignore the naysayers -- see it for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Street Of Dreams!
Review: "Mulholland Drive" is Federico Fellini meets John Waters! Like a Fellini movie it has grotesque characters, beautiful women, and a caricaturish view of society. It takes these elements and throws in a dash of John Waters for good measure. It has an amateurish quality to it, it feels "second-rate" (especially in the first hour of the film), and the dialogue plays off as being hokey, and campy. Just like any "good" John Waters' film. Somewhere, somehow, "Mulholland Drive" over-comes all of this, and turns itself into an intense modern day noir film.
I'm not sure how to describe this film without given away the plot. This is one of those films where, the more you know about the movie, the less thrilling it is to go see it. It's best you go unknowing what to expect so you'll be able to discover everything for yourself and decide on your own what everything means. "Mulholland Drive" plays a lot of ideas at once, and maybe in someone else's hand it might not work as well. There's a noir story here, a thriller, a romance blooming, and believe it or not, but there are laughs too! It takes all these different genres and combines them. This is without question something I would call "a thinking person's film". But, see, that's what I like. I enjoy movies that ask the audience to actually think.
The acting in this movie by Naomi Watts and Laura Harring is worth the price of admission itself! Just being able to look at them is worth the price of admission! They are great on-screen together and have great chemistry. Each deserves an Oscar nomination for their performance. I must admit though, I do like Watts a bit more. Justin Theroux is amusing in this film as well. He provides some laughs in the film. Believe it or not but ANN MILLER is in this movie! Younger audiences might not remember her, but, she was at one time a great dancer (check out Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate). Robert Forster and Dan Hedaya have extremely brief roles as well. This was the first David Lynch film I ever saw, and it won't be the last one. I was truly inpressed with this film. I think it's one of the best films of 2001! For people who have an open mind "Mulholland Drive" is the film for you.
p.s. I know I've given a very vague descirption of this film. But, after you've seen it, you'll understand why.
Rating:
Summary: It's not supposed to be explained
Review: I left the theater with absolutely no idea what I just saw. In fact, I couldn't even begin to explain it to anyone else. Eventually I read Ebert's review of the film, and came to the same conclusion that I think he did. It's simply a dream, one that I am experiencing in the theater. I liked the movie because it had what Lost Highway was missing. It drew me in and gave me clues without offering explanations. In the end it wasn't the solving of the mystery that mattered, it was the road, however dark and twisted that brought us there.
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