If David Lynch's Eraserhead is disturbing, then Blue Velvet is downright weird. Characters with a Jimmy-Stewart-aw-shucks quality exist in a universe which resembles Leave it to Beaver-----and then discover that the town's underground doesn't have the same lustrous sheen.

The malt shop dialogue and American Dreamy idealism make the film's performances difficult to penetrate. It's very easy to misperceive Blue Velvet as a trashy recycled sitcom of sorts, but all of the superficiality plays directly into the film's theme. Kyle MacLachlan stars as Jeffrey Beaumont, who has come home from college because of his father's illness. While walking through the woods one day, Jeffrey finds a severed ear-----this sets he and romantic interest Sandy Williams (Laura Dern) on an investigative path that begins the film's story.

Again, one could dismiss MacLachlan and Dern as bad actors, but anyone who has seen Dern's other work can testify to her skill-----in suburbia, everything is perfect, and everyone gets along. Once our heros descend into the underworld, the appearance becomes drastically different, but so much more real. Beaumont encounters the now legendary Frank (Dennis Hopper), a town monster with alien sexual fetishes. Frank is blackmailing Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) by making her concede to his licentious demands.

Lynch's ability to maintain the glossy tone while still intriguing us with the film's idiosyncrasies is venerable. But he fails in allowing the film to transcend generations-----Eraserhead is still provocative and mind-blowing thirty years after its release, but the audience's first encounter with Frank is not shocking-----you see it and think, "Yeah, that's fucked up," but you don't think, "WHOA, that's so fucked up." Audiences viewed films differently in 1986 (the film's release).

The film has other issues; the climax in particular. The penultimate scene is supposed to be tense and thrilling, but it's all very strangely structured and rather predictable. The events leading up to it are also vague and indecipherable-----it's a pointless nebulousness.

Still, Blue Velvet's strengths redeem it. Frank is still a memorable and hilarious character, brilliantly performed by Dennis Hopper (who reportedly exclaimed upon reading the script, "I've got to play Frank. Because I am Frank!"), despite the relative ineffectiveness of his first scene. The film's blackly comedic nature, a trademark of nearly all Lynch films, also lends it much credence. While it is difficult to be extremely impacted by Blue Velvet, one can see how audiences would have received it in 1986.

Rating: B

Recommended:
Yes