1997 Lost Highway

• Director: David Lynch
• Writers: David Lynch, Barry Gifford
• Stars: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake
• Runtime: 2 Hours, 14 Minutes
• Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwNm8_L0DQk
  

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

The IMDB.com listing for this movie summarizes it perfectly: “Anonymous videotapes presage a musician’s murder conviction, and a gangster’s girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.” There’s other things that happen too, but that’s the gist. It’s a David Lynch film, so every shot and every character seems a little off or unsettling or unusual. It’s a strange and quiet movie that unfolds at a relaxed pace for the most part. Some might call it boring. Some might think it could be trimmed down by a lot.

Spoilery Synopsis

Credits roll as we drive along… a lost highway.

We cut to Fred Madison, who’s annoyed by the doorbell. “Dick Laurent is dead” says the voice on the intercom. Renee comes in, and they talk before he goes to work; she says she’ll stay home and read a book. He’s a saxophone player in a loud bar (he’s horrible, by the way). He calls her later, and she’s not at home reading a book. Still, when he gets home, she’s there asleep. Maybe he’s just suspicious over nothing.

In the morning, Renee finds an unlabeled videotape waiting for her outside. Fred puts it in the player, and it’s their house. “Must be from a real estate agent,” she quips. Then they have sex for a long time, and Fred… fails. He tells her about the dream he had last night. She was in bed with him, but her face looked like Robert Blake for some reason.

The next morning, there’s another videotape. This time, it’s their house from the outside and on the inside. It also shows them sleeping in their bed. The police detectives show up and look the place over, but they don’t find anything.

At Andy’s houseparty not long after, Fred sees that same weird man. “We’ve met before, haven’t we? At your house? As a matter of fact, I’m there right now, at your house.” Fred calls home and the man, who is standing right in front of him, answers. It’s a weird conversation. When they get home, no one is there.

Fred finds another videotape. This one shows Fred murdering Renee. Did he really do that? The police think he did, and he goes to prison for it– on death row. The prison doctor gives him something to make him sleep, but he has headaches that won’t go away. He gets another vision of the mystery man and some even stranger things.

The warden and the guard look into Fred’s cell, but that’s some other guy in there now. How did that happen? This guy is Peter Dayton, not Fred at all. They release Peter to his family, since he’s not even supposed to be in prison at all.

Peter goes out with friends, but he’s changed. He doesn’t really know what happened to him. He goes back to work, fixing cars for Arnie. Mr. Eddy, a gangster, comes in, and he’s a good friend to Pete. They go for a drive and a tail-gater messes with the wrong car. Let’s just say Mr. Eddie is a stickler for safety rules.

Pete and his girlfriend, Sheila, make out in the car that night, with the police watching from their tail-car.

The next day, at the auto shop, Pete gets a headache when he hears saxophone music on the radio. Mr. Eddy comes in again and leaves his car. He notices Eddy’s new girl in the passenger seat, and she looks just like Renee, but she’s not. She comes by later that evening to talk to Pete, alone; she’s Alice.

Pete’s parents saw everything that happened the night Pete went missing. There was a strange man involved. Not long after, Eddy warns Pete about staying away from Alice. Alicec, on the other hand, wants to run away with Pete. She talks to him about doing pornos for Mr. Eddy. She’s got a whole plan laid out for leaving town with the help of Andy.

Mr. Eddy calls Pete on the phone. Mr Eddy puts the Mystery Man on the phone. “We’ve met before, haven’t we? At your house.” Yeah, he knows about Alice, and that’s not good for Pete.

Pete goes to the rendezvous spot to meet Alice at Andy’s house. He sees a porno movie playing on a big screen, and it’s Alice in the movie. Pete attacks Anyd, who dies in the fight, albeit accidentally. Pete sees a photo of Alice and Renee together, along with Andy and Eddy.

Pete’s head goes all wonky, and he goes up to the bathroom, bleeding heavily. The two drive out to the desert to meet her fence, who will pay them to leave the country. As they wait, they have more sex. When they’re done, Pete is gone and Fred is there taking his place. The Mystery Man is there as well.

Fred gets freaked out by the strange man and drives off alone, to the Lost Highway Hotel, where Renee is having sex with Eddy. Fred takes Eddy, at gunpoint, out into the desert and kills him.

At Andy’s house, the detectives look at the photo, and only Renee, Andy, and Eddy are in it. Fred then goes to his house, rings the bell, and says “Dick Laurant is dead.” The detectives spot him there and chase him way out into the desert. As he drives, Fred becomes some else…

Brian’s Commentary

You know it’s a weird movie when Gary Busey plays one of the more reasonable characters.

I had only seen this one once before, when it came out, and all I remember was that I didn’t care for it. I’m a huge David Lynch fan, but this was my least favorite of his films. Now I see why: It’s boring as hell; we didn’t get a single laugh until Robert Loggia showed up to give us a driving lesson.

We get a whole bunch of stuff with Bill Pullman, and then he disappears for the majority of the movie. Then we get Balthazar Getty for a chunk of the film with no explanation for the shift.

I don’t get it. It probably needs three or four more viewings before I do, just like “Mulholland Drive” did.

Kevin’s Commentary

I’d forgotten how many recognizable faces are in it in supporting roles.

I too had only seen this once before and didn’t care for it too much. It’s Lynch, so the cinematography is amazing and the script is weird. There are some solidly entertaining moments. And I liked it better this time. But it also felt too long and drawn out. I’d trim it back half an hour or so.