LOST HIGHWAY

The title of the new David Lynch movie, LOST HIGHWAY, couldn’t be more accurate in describing both the vision, direction and narrative of a very disturbing and horrid movie. All the characters are lost, and so is the sympathy of the audience. LOST HIGHWAY tells a convoluted and bizarre tale of a saxophone player, a mechanic, a gangster, the women they love, and a white-faced creep who connects them.

Fred (Bill Pullman) is married to a woman named Renee (Patricia Arquette). He suspects her of infidelity when she refuses to join him at the club where he plays. They begin to receive strange videotapes left at their doorstep showing images of their home. One of the tapes shows Fred and Renee in bed, asleep. This alarms Fred, and he is determined to know who is responsible. At a party, a pale-faced, creepy man tells Fred that he is at his house right now. Fred calls his home using the man’s phone and hears the man pick up and speak with him. Frightened, Fred and Renee go home.

Through some confusing grotesque images, it is implied that Fred has killed his wife and he goes to jail. In prison, through unexplained means, Fred is replaced by a young mechanic, named Peter (Balthazar Getty). Peter is released to the custody of his parents and goes back to work. A gang boss (Robert Loggia) visits Peter, bringing a beautiful blond named Alice (also played by Patricia Arquette). Peter and Alice share mutual lust, and it isn’t long before they are fornicating. The gang boss suspects this and threatens Peter’s life. Peter and Alice decide to escape and hide in a shack in the desert. There, the pale-faced creepy man shows up, and through unexplained means, Peter is again replaced by Fred.

Making absolutely no sense is a form that David Lynch has mastered. He is notorious for long camera shots with actors performing a style that is deliberately off beat for no other reason than to add mystery. Fans of the TV program TWIN PEAKS will understand this completely. Here, the slow confusion means monotony. There is no apparent theme or plot, but David Lynch asks us, “Are Renee and Alice the same woman?” The answer is “Who cares?” As Renee, she is as dull as a rock, and as Alice, she is a lewd tramp. The only certainty about this movie is that Patricia Arquette doesn’t mind getting naked and performing lots of sex.

David Lynch actually has done fascinating and tender work in the past such as ELEPHANT MAN. The subject matter was weird, a man with the elephantiasis disease, but he brought out the humanity of the character and his mentor. It seems that Lynch has replaced cinema as a vehicle for human emotion and used cinema as a vehicle for confusion and despair. Lynch has a small loyal following that seem to enjoy the madness of his means. The moral moviegoer will be completely confused and offended by LOST HIGHWAY.