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Inland Empire (2006)
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Reviews Counted:98
Fresh:70
Rotten:28
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: Typical David Lynch fare: fans of the director will find Inland Empire seductive and deep. All others will consider the heady surrealism impenetrable and pointless.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some violence and sexuality/nudity.
Runtime: 2 hrs 59 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Dec 6, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: With INLAND EMPIRE, David Lynch--creator of such mind-bending works as ERASERHEAD and LOST HIGHWAY--delivers his most avant-garde, abstract, and impenetrable vision yet. A three-hour fever... With INLAND EMPIRE, David Lynch--creator of such mind-bending works as ERASERHEAD and LOST HIGHWAY--delivers his most avant-garde, abstract, and impenetrable vision yet. A three-hour fever nightmare of a motion picture, INLAND EMPIRE takes the basic structure of Lynch's 2001 masterpiece, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, and spins it even further out of control. A blonde actress (Laura Dern) is preparing for her biggest role yet, but when she finds herself falling for her co-star (Justin Theroux), she realizes that her life is beginning to mimic the fictional film that they're shooting. Adding to her confusion is the revelation that the current film is a remake of a doomed Polish production, 47, which was never finished due to an unspeakable tragedy. And that's the only the beginning. Soon, a seemingly endless onslaught of indescribably bizarre situations flashes across the screen: a sitcom featuring humans in bunny suits, a parallel story set in a wintry Poland, a houseful of dancing streetwalkers, screwdrivers in stomachs, menacing Polish carnies, and much, much more. By the time the film's electrifying closing-credit sequence arrives, even diehard Lynch fans will be gasping for air. What most glaringly differentiates INLAND EMPIRE from Lynch's previous work is the format on which it was shot. This is the first time that he has chosen to shoot on digital video, as opposed to film, and while the decision is jarring at first, the grainy imagery nonetheless casts a creepy, haunting spell. Laura Dern's multi-fractured performance is downright heroic. She gives the film the human grounding that it so desperately needs. Not for the fragile or timid, INLAND EMPIRE is a full-blown assault to the senses. [More]
Starring: Jeremy Irons, Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton
Starring: Jeremy Irons, Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Scott Coffey, Ian Abercrombie, Terry Crews, Grace Zabriskie, Julia Ormond, William H. Macy, Naomi Watts, Nastassja Kinski, Diane Ladd, Mary Steenburgen
Director: David Lynch
Director: David Lynch
Screenwriter: David Lynch
Producer: David Lynch, Mary Sweeney
Studio: 518 Media Inc.
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Reviews for Inland Empire
Despite its moments of inspired terror and mystery, this isn't a cult hit in the making like Mulholland Drive, or a contrarian critic's delight like Lost Highway. It's an opaque and baffling work, difficult to follow and difficult to like.
Some die-hard fans will no doubt like it, but most likely INLAND EMPIRE (yes - all capitals) will only be remembered as the second orthographically peculiar title after Mullholland Dr.
...The film, which begins promisingly, disappears down so many rabbit holes (one of them involving actual rabbits) that eventually it just disappears for good.
It's also too long and too reminiscent of Lynch's other work. But die-hard fans will find things to like.
This time Lynch has really lost his bananas, and the grapefruits aren't looking too ripe either.
Lynch's brilliant and bizarre films have often come to us as a puzzle wrapped in an enigma, but his latest is enshrouded with two layers of 'who cares?'
The effect, after an hour or two, begins to resemble a very anxiety-fraught session of watching music videos on MTV.
David Lynch has been working on his latest film, Inland Empire for years, and it feels like he has included every minute of the footage he shot.
Were it not for the great performances, this would be the worst movie of the year.
A three-hour practical joke without a punchline, at once maddeningly obscure and infinitely boring.
I can't totally recommend Inland Empire. But something tells me I'd be a fool to totally dismiss it.
Inland Empire may mesmerize those for whom the helmer can do no wrong, but the unconvinced and the occasional admirer will find it dull as dishwater and equally murky.
...ideal for those who thought [David Lynch's] Mulholland Drive was too simple and straightforward...
... the avant-gardism feels less born of Lynch's bizarre brain than there to prop up his reputation.
Latest News for Inland Empire
December 12, 2006:
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November 14, 2006:
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