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Recent releases:
- Jericho Ridge
- Civil War
- Mothers' Instinct
- Sweet East, The
- Ghost Busters: Frozen Empire
- Immaculate
- Roaring Twenties, The (reissue)
- Soul
- Dune: part two
- American Star
- Dune: Part 1 (reissue)
- Jerry & Marge Go Large
- Argylle
- Forever Young
- Jackdaw
- All of Us Strangers
- Holdovers, The
- Mean Girls
- Poor Things
- One Life
Inland Empire (AF)
Stars: Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton, Justin Theroux, Grace Zabriskie, Diane Ladd
Director: David Lynch
Compared with this incomprehensible, interminable and hugely self-indulgent drivel, Lynchs ridiculously overpraised last film, Mulholland Drive, is a masterpiece of rigorous filmmaking.
You know youre in for a bad time when there are no press notes at a preview. Perhaps thats because Inland Empires jumble of scenes defy synopsis. Perhaps Lynch dropped his script (if there was one) before filming and forgot to restore the pages to their original order. Perhaps he, like me, didnt know what the hell was going on as Dern giving a far better performance than the film deserves begins as a movie star remaking a doomed Polish picture and ends up dead on Hollywood Boulevard.
I dont want that to sound as though theres an understandable narrative. There isnt. The bloated three-hour running time features such stupid, tedious or just plain ridiculous ingredients as rabbit-headed humanoids, Irons embarrassing himself as a camp film director, girls flashing their breasts and dancing in living rooms while luckless Ms Derns confused, mostly pointless scenes find her wandering through wintry Poland, creepy hallways and watching herself on screen in a deserted cinema. Which, come to thing of it, sums up this twaddle. Lynchs egregious ego trip deserves empty cinemas.
Alan Frank
USA 2006. UK Distributor: Optimum Releasing. Colour/bw.
180 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.
Review date: 04 Mar 2007