David Lynch

Often hailed as the master of untraditional storytelling – but not all his films earn the title. (Looking at you, Eraserhead.)

Say what you will about the end product, his inventiveness is undeniable. Vision and ambition alone are worthy of esteem. At the very least, a Lynch screening gives you something to ruminate on.

I caught a midnight screening at TCM Classic Film Festival. An interview with David Patrick Kelly introduced the film. He’s so dynamic – it was great. He performed three little tunes on a ukulele while the interviewer beamed. One was “Locomotion,” with the crowd joining in. So fun.

Sailor (Nick Cage) resists the sexual advances of his girlfriend’s mother in a restroom stall, and must defend himself from the retaliatory knife attack by the scorned woman’s boyfriend. That’s the setup.

Casting a Black man as the mother’s lover seems engineered for unpredictability, not commentary. Just another Lynch wildcard.

Unexpected Directions

Events unfold boldly from there in a bizarre, fragmented manner – equal parts pleasant and unpleasant.

The film leans hard into a punk rock ethos. Lots of metal guitar, flame effects and scream singing. Abrupt, severe violence early on.

The savagery Nicholas Cage displays in defending himself is truly upsetting. A switch is thrown and he becomes a different person temporarily. Does he go overboard in resisting the attack? Seems like one of the things the audience is supposed to puzzle over.

But this is our protagonist; we’re supposed to root for him the rest of the film. Which is manageable – but not easy. I like Nick Cage, but not blindly.

Laura Dern brings a mix of innocence and chaos that fits the mood, though her character sometimes feels more symbolic than real.

Still, the values displayed by our leads resonate – fidelity, enthusiasm, protection, commitment. They love each other, dancing and open/honest discourse. Admirable qualities on atypical display. Their romance gives the chaos some shape.

The exaggerated Southern drawls, while feeling folksy and cute, often grate and don’t add up to much. Accents that stand out in a mostly distracting way.

Tonal shifts are frequent. An odd sexual undercurrent. Familial problems of the highest degree.

Darkness and depravity are explored with a delicate hand – never glorified, but always present.

Lynch assembles it all with a fever dream logic – obsessed with texture more than coherence.

As An Audience Member…

The viewer mostly moseys along, occasionally intrigued but often flat-faced. It’s not boring. There are hints of depth – but not much reward. You keep wondering: Where is this going? And by the end, the answer seems to be: probably nowhere.

It’s a ride, sure. But one that burns bright, makes a mess and leaves little behind.

★★★★★

Briefer thoughts at: IMDb & Letterboxd. For another TCM review read Colossus: The Forbin Project. Non-TCM? Windy City Heat or Tombstone.