Genres:
Drama, Surrealist Film
Fred Madison, a saxophonist, is accused under mysterious circumstances of murdering his wife Renee. On death row, he inexplicably morphs into a young man named Pete Dayton, leading a completely different life. When Pete is released, his and Fred's paths begin to cross in a surreal, suspenseful web of intrigue, orchestrated by a shady gangster boss named Dick Laurent.
--IMDb
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7.2
/ 10
- Overall Rating
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You have got to appreciate a filmmaker who doesn't care about his audience. I know that sounds a little much, but I appreciate it. David Lynch could care less if you understand what his films are about, and he could care less whether you love it or hate it. All he cares about is making the films he wants to make and making them with the actors with whom he likes to work. You've got to really appreciate a filmmaker like that. I do. "Lost Highway", released in 1997, is probably the most bizarre film you've seen since "Eraserhead" and until "Inland Empire", both David Lynch films. "Lost Highway" is like an experimental mind-fuck that manages to be entertaining. And, in grande David Lynch style, no one had a clue as to what in the hell is going on here.
We've got Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette and cameras in their home. We've got the super creepy Robert Blake pulling a mental mind-fuck – "I'm already there." We've got Balthazar Getty playing...well...an assortment of roles. We have Richard Pryor popping up in a wheelchair and managing to make me smile like no other. We've got the great Jack Nance making his final screen appearance before his death. "Lost Highway" bends and weaves and confuses the hell out of you and that is what David Lynch wants. He wants you to re-think everything you've seen. He wants you to think you've missed something and then have to watch the film again. He wants to hit you over the head with two hours of the coolest shots and sequences you've likely ever seen.
After "Mulholland Drive" and "Inland Empire", the film that most closely resembles those would have to be "Lost Highway", and it's one of his underrated masterpieces. The performances are perfect, especially from Robert Blake and Balthazar Getty. The art direction and production design are creepy and atmospheric, and the soundtrack is just plain incredible, with everything from Marilyn Manson chewing through "Apple of Sodom" to The Smashing Pumpkin's "Eye", Lynch's taste for macabre music has never been better, and every single song fits with the film. "Lost Highway" is one of my favorite David Lynch films because it doesn't care to confuse. It doesn't care that you might not understand a damned thing. I wish more films cared that much. 9/10.
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#1:
Cryptorchild
- added 01/17/2007, 08:12 PM
Eh, David Lynch is over-rated. But...you have do
be doing something right if you're that well known
and nearly all of your movies continually make no
sense and break every rule there is. I don't have
a clue as to how that's possible he somehow
manages to pull it off. As far as Lost Highway
goes...creepy but it's just strange. I'd give it
a 5/10.
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#2:
Kari Byron's Sex Cyborg
- added 01/18/2007, 02:26 AM
I wouldn't call myself a "Lynchhead" (I agree
that he is a bit overrated) but I certainly do
like a bunch of the man's films. When it comes to
his work that dips into this unorthodox
mindboggling style, I can easily take them for
their confusing face-value and enjoy myself; I
could care less about what the "true meaning" is.
Many say things like, "Okay, so this is all I have
to do to make a praiseworthy movie: string
together a bunch of random, pointless, and
incoherent scenes then... no wait, that's it."
Hey, you know what? These mindfuck ideas of David
Lynch could truly be what those like-minded people
describe as pretentious, incomprehensible, and
irrelevant pieces of garbage which makes Lynch
laugh maniacally to himself at nights over the
fact that other people proclaim it to be
beautifully artistic or genius filmmaking... well
then, so be it, I guess that's just the type of
stuff I actually find entertaining. With all the
terribly unoriginal and empty movies to have been
released during the past decade or so, not to
mention the flurry of unnecessary remakes and
sequels along with the many still pending, could
you really blame someone's taste in something that
is unquestionably novel and thought-provoking
nonetheless?
8.9/10
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#3:
Lucid Dreams
- added 07/17/2010, 03:31 PM
I watched this so long ago and like most of his
movies I felt confused as well. I will agree with
most that he is a bit overrated, but his movies
are original and I will give credit for that. 7/10
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