 In his first full length movie since Mulholland Drive in 2001, writer/director David Lynch takes us back to Hollywood with all of its emotional glitter and gore and delivers Inland Empire. Laura Dern is Nikki Grace, an actress who falls in love with her co-star, Justin Theroux, and descends into madness as she finds it harder and harder to discriminate between reality and the movie they are filming. Laura Dern's performance is absolutely riveting from beginning to end; she is both mysterious and very accessible as she leads the viewer through her increasing desperation.
In perfect empathy with Nikki Grace, as we watch the movie we, too, have a very hard time discerning what is in her head and what is really happening with the plot of the script the characters are filming. The line between reality and fantasy dissolves slowly enough for us, as outside observers, to engage in the reality of the initial plot and feel the figurative ground beneath us melt away.
Lynch's cinematography and scriptwriting are both intriguing and bedazzling. He has a keen sense of tonality in the way that he creates the ambiance of each scene and how he ties seemly unrelated characters together. He has a way of filming things that lets the viewer know there is something very important about a particular scene. The only frustration I experience is that sometimes I fail to see the significance in the moment. That is why, although I adore Lynch as an artist, I've been known to shake my fist at him as a director. The only real warning I would give about this film is: Beware of it's length! Three hours of madness can become too much to truly appreciate unless you are in a very excited, awake, and experimental mindset. However, when you have the time and energy, Inland Empire will most certainly satisfy your curiosity.
I've spent a fair amount of time watching David Lynch movies in my early adulthood and I've never truly understood anything that he has made; but my appreciation for the man as a visual artist has only increased throughout the years. Some things are more beautiful and fulfilling if you don't try to understand them in a normal sense. Inland Empire is definitely one of those things.
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