Inland Empire

Everything you love (or hate) about David Lynch is on display in this long, long movie that also appears to have a slight Lars von Trier influence (three-hour run-time, digital video, critically acclaimed leading lady getting traumatized for nearly the entire length of the movie).

Begun as a series of Internet shorts, this movie immediately assaults the viewer with Lynch's trademark soundtrack rumbles and continues into familiar stylistic territory with spotlights in the dark, close-ups of crying, time and space folding back upon themselves, oddly lip-synched musical numbers, empty theaters...If you know Lynch, you know the drill.

Trying to decipher the plot in a linear fashion is futile, though it starts out relatively straightforwardly with the story of an actress (Laura Dern) who gets the lead role in a Hollywood remake of a cursed Polish production.

But maybe the movie is the true reality, and she has only imagined being an actress. Or perhaps she's being dreamed by someone else; every time you think you have a fix on the truth, Lynch pulls out the rug and peels off another layer of narrative.

What is clear is it's an overarching Lynch-eye view of Hollywood as both concept and place, from the hookers on the boulevard to mansions in the hills, and the viewers as far away as Eastern Europe who identify with their favorite movie stars, perhaps too much. It's a worthwhile trip, though the unprepared viewer will constantly wonder, Are we there yet?