Length: 145 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for violence, language and some strong sexuality

I've admired some of writer-director David Lynch's previous offerings, such as "Twin Peaks" and "Blue Velvet," but I was absolutely mesmerized when I watched his noirish "Mulholland Drive" recently at home on DVD. The dazzling visual style of the film and its fascinating soundtrack combine to create a mysterious, dreamlike mood that makes this film very entertaining, and I highly recommend it to almost anyone who likes movies at all.

I must admit, though, I thought "Mulholland Drive" didn't make much sense after my initial viewing. But after watching the film a second time, thinking about it, talking about it, and reading about it, I've come to realize that there is an internal logic to most, if perhaps not quite all, of the movie. However, I expect some people will prefer not to struggle with trying to unlock the meaning of the film, but the remarkable thing is that I believe the overwhelming majority of those people will find the movie quite enjoyable anyway.

For purposes of describing "Mulholland Drive," I find it convenient to partition the movie into two interrelated parts. I'll call the first hour and 57 minutes of the film Part I, and the last half hour I'll call Part II.

In Part I we meet Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), an attractive young woman from Canada who travels to Los Angeles to seek a career as a movie actress. The perky, sweet-natured blonde has arranged to stay in her aunt's unoccupied Hollywood apartment, but when she arrives there she is surprised to find a gorgeous brunette (Laura Elena Harring) in the shower. The deeply troubled brunette turns out to be an amnesia victim who can't remember her name and decides to be called Rita, choosing that name from a movie poster for the film noir "Gilda" that starred Rita Hayworth. Then in a sort of a weird R-rated Nancy Drew mystery, Betty tries to help Rita find out who she is, while at the same time easing into a lesbian relationship with her!

In addition to spending time with Rita, Betty attempts to break into acting, and along the way she encounters a movie director named Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux). One day Adam comes home to find his wife in bed with the hunky pool man, who assaults the director and throws him out of his own house. Also, mobsters pressure Adam to use a blonde ingenue named Camilla Rhodes as the lead in his current film, and we see her do a screen test that consists of lip-syncing Linda Scott's "I've Told Every Little Star."

In Part II of "Mulholland Drive," a frazzled, unhappy blonde named Diane Selwyn (Watts again) is awakened from a deep sleep. It is quickly established that Diane was previously in a lesbian relationship with a beautiful brunette named Camilla Rhodes (Harring again), who is evidently the woman who took the name Rita in Part I of the movie. But the brunette Camilla of Part II is not the same woman as the blonde ingenue who did the screen test in Part I.

A few minutes later in the film comes a key sequence where Diane attends a party hosted by Adam Kesher. There Diane is greeted by her former lover, the brunette Camilla. Also at the party is a woman who looks exactly like the blonde ingenue who did the screen test in Part I, and at one point we see the Part II brunette Camilla and the woman who looks like the Part I blonde Camilla kiss rather ardently on the lips! Moments later, the brunette Camilla sits at a table having fun with Adam, and they seem to be on the verge of announcing their engagement! Meanwhile, Diane reacts to her former lover's behavior with sadness, humiliation, and anger.

Part II then goes on to show several more scenes that shed additional light on the events of Part I, and I don't think I should demystify "Mulholland Drive" any more than I already have so as not to completely spoil things for those who want to try to figure it out for themselves. Of course, one of the advantages of DVD is that you can carefully watch all or part of the movie repeatedly at your own pace until understanding dawns. But for those of you who would like to cheat, I recommend the Salon article "Everything You Wanted to Know About 'Mulholland Drive'" by Bill Wyman, Max Garrone, and Andy Klein.

I can't recall seeing the actress Naomi Watts in any other movies, but I must say I found her performance in "Mulholland Drive" to be nothing short of astonishing. Watts plays two roles—Betty in Part I and Diane Selwyn in Part II—and she makes these characters seem very different from each other. In fact, I've read that some viewers have failed to recognize that the same actress plays both roles, which makes it difficult for them to see the likable and capable Betty as Diane's idealized vision of herself. Also, the other principal actress in the film, the beautiful Laura Elena Harring, is excellent in the crucial role of the femme fatale.

The picture and sound quality on the "Mulholland Drive" DVD are outstanding, but the special features are extremely disappointing. Not only is there no commentary track for a film that cries out for explication, the DVD doesn't even provide for scene selection! I've listed below the only bonus materials of any consequence, and even there the title "Cast and Filmmakers" is puffery since there's information on only a single filmmaker, namely writer-director David Lynch, whose biography here consists solely of the facts that he was born in Missoula, Montana, and that he was an Eagle Scout. Nevertheless, "Mulholland Drive" is one of the best films of the last few years, and it would be a mistake to miss it just because of meager DVD bonus materials.

Selected Special Features on the DVD:

• Cast and Filmmakers
• Theatrical Trailer