David Lynch has long had audiences intrigued with his surrealist plots, intriguing dialogue and baffling conclusions.
Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive all sterling examples of the aforesaid. Whilst the superlative The Straight Story was a departure to the ‘normal’ methods of storytelling, Lynch is at ease when he is at the helm for projects like Inland Empire, a three hour treatise on the human psyche that has at its core the story of mental lassitude and the complexities that come with this.
Laura Dern’s performance is captivating and the film has all the hallmarks and Lynchisms we have come to expect, but there is no identifiable plot or nuance of a ‘story’.
Whilst Lynch has an unnerving ability to plot scenes that are beautifully constructed and well acted, his work can be a strain. There are elements of Inland Empire that recall some of the finer moments of his part work, but this is just another case of Lynch getting into your head and then not knowing what to do.
