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Movies / On DVD / Inland Empire
Inland Empire

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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: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, some violence and sexuality/nudity.

Runtime: 2 hrs 59 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:09-03-2007

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

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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this story of magic, madness and metempsychosis will have you feeling like a rabbit trying to puzzle out what exactly is going on as wilder wolves circle and headlights career toward you out of the darkness.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
06/13/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A dazzling and exquisitely original riddle as told by an enigma, featuring a superb, multi-layered performance by Laura Dern.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/07/07
Damon Wise
Damon Wise
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Whether shattering or boring, you’ll still have your eyes wide, wide open from begin to end.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
03/08/07
Dave Calhoun
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The man's still a genius; he just needs to be more ruthless in the editing suite.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/06/07
Matthew Leyland
Matthew Leyland
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A must-see for Lynch fans, this is unlike anything else you'll see this year and if you can make it through the lengthy running time the rewards are considerable. A masterpiece (probably).

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/08/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

The great eroto-surrealist David Lynch has gone truffling for another imaginary orifice of pleasure, with results that are fascinating, sometimes very unwholesome, and always enjoyable.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/10/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As opaque a movie as I've ever seen, yet riveting or hypnotic in a way that makes you feel not that you've seen it, but that you've dreamt it.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
03/17/07
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

David Lynch again deploys his genius in all its infuriating impenetrability.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/30/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

It's very possibly a work of genius. It could also be the most pretentious pile of garbage ever to make the big screen. But one thing it isn't is unoriginal. If nothing else, the man should be applauded for that.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
03/30/07
Stuart McGurk
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper

An interminable bore.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment 7 Comments
10/30/06
Ray Bennett
Ray Bennett
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

My advice, in the face of such hallucinatory brilliance, is that you hang on.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment 3 Comments
11/23/06
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

A three-hour practical joke without a punchline, at once maddeningly obscure and infinitely boring.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment 1 Comment
04/14/07
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

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.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 1 Comment
10/28/06
Jay Weissberg
Jay Weissberg
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
03/03/07
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
04/14/07
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
11/24/07
Sydney Morning Herald

My favorite film of the [New York Film Festival] and the year... Lynch's most challenging work since Eraserhead is a viscerally unrivaled love letter to the transformative powers of cinema that can't be controlled nor comprehended.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
10/16/06
Aaron Hillis
Aaron Hillis
Premiere Magazine

While the narrative is away with the bunnies, as a mood piece Lynch scores a slam dunk.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
06/13/08
Amber Wilkinson
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film

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.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
10/06/06
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com

... either vastly complex or simply chaotic ... two states that are not always easy to distinguish.... but I enjoyed the movie more the second time through ... always a good sign.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
12/21/06
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Inland Empire

December 12, 2006: 2006 NYFCO Awards Announced!
It's that time of year again: Right before the fancy awards are doled out, all the different critics' groups chime in with their favorite flicks of the year. Here we have the... More...

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November 14, 2006: RTIndie: A News Wrap-Up, Plus David Lynch's Latest Antics
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