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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
David Lynch peeks behind the picket fences of small-town America to reveal a corrupt shadow world of malevolence, sadism, and madness. From the opening shots Lynch turns the Technicolor picture postcard images of middle class homes and tree-lined lanes into a dreamy vision on the edge of nightmare. After his father collapses in a preternaturally eerie sequence, college boy Kyle MacLachlan returns home and stumbles across a severed human ear in a vacant lot. With the help of sweetly innocent high school girl (Laura Dern), he turns junior detective and uncovers a frightening yet darkly compelling world of voyeurism and sex. Drawn deeper into the brutal world of drug dealer and blackmailer Frank, played with raving mania by an obscenity-shouting Dennis Hopper in a career-reviving performance, he loses his innocence and his moral bearings when confronted with pure, unexplainable evil. Isabella Rossellini is terrifyingly desperate as Hopper's sexual slave who becomes MacLachlan's illicit lover, and Dean Stockwell purrs through his role as Hopper's oh-so-suave buddy. Lynch strips his surreally mundane sets to a ghostly austerity, which composer Angelo Badalamenti encourages with the smooth, spooky strains of a lush score. Blue Velvet is a disturbing film that delves into the darkest reaches of psycho-sexual brutality and simply isn't for everyone. But for a viewer who wants to see the cinematic world rocked off its foundations, David Lynch delivers a nightmarish masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker
Blue Velvet Reviews:
Blue Villain 
2008-11-05 - I saw "Blue Velvet" listed in "The New York Times list of Best 1000 Movies ever Made". The reviews that I read suggested that this film was rather "blue" itself and I was reluctant to view it. However, I was able to see it on the IFC channel the other night and I was, frankly, amazed that there was so much praise for it. The acting in "Blue Velvet" was so bad that it's almost embarassing. Laura Dern's grimaces late in the film made her look like an unhappy clown. The lead role was played by a Kyle MacLachlin who came across like a kid just out of acting school. Dean Stockwell embarassed himself in a role he should have never taken. The only really good performance was by Dennis Hopper. However, his role was obscenely loud in a movie that was otherwise only offensive in its' ineptness. The plot was probably the reason some viewers watch this movie more than once. I know that I couldn't follow everything that happened. However, I am satisfied in my ignorance and have no intention of watching this disappointment again.
The only thing about the high ratings of "Blue Velvet" that made any sense to me is that it was perceived as a satire of Middle America. However, I get the sense that the people who thought so highly of "Blue Velvet" did so because they took it seriously. "Blue Velvet" is a joke that too many people took seriously. Don' waste your time on this one.
Very close to velvety smooth... 
2008-10-13 - Let it be known that David Lynch has a very unique style; a style that is a very acquired taste. You either love him or you hate him; there is rarely an in-between. I personally love his work (most of it), which is what saddens me a bit about `Blue Velvet'. This is one of those films that is lauded above all his other work as being the best of the best, but it struck me a little cold. The script is flawless (I love the ambiguities that lie within Lynch's work) and the direction, pace and mood acquired is effortlessly captivating, but the film falls short in a very central area; the acting.
Don't pelt me with stones just yet.
The film revolves around Jeffrey Beaumont, a young man who returns to his hometown after his father falls ill suddenly. Upon his return he finds a severed ear in a field and his journey then begins. With local high school girl Sandy (whose father happens to be the Detective Jeffrey shows the ear to) Jeffrey decides to try and uncover the mystery behind the ear, and this attempt brings him into the lives of quite a few interesting people. First there is Dorothy Vallens, a beautiful woman who is victim to a strange and violent man named Frank Booth; and sliding into their lives, Jeffrey finds himself in desperate need for help as he watches his life slide further and further towards its end.
Lynch, like I mentioned, has a unique style of direction. If you are familiar with `Eraserhead' or `Mulholland Drive' then you already know how this film is going to progress. He allows the scenes to move at their own pace, manipulating them just slightly. This may come off to some as dry or even stale, but this is Lynch's way of using everything at his disposal to create a mood, an air within each scene.
I have no problem with this.
The script is also brilliantly done. The slow progression of junior detective is effective and consuming as we anticipate how things are going to turn out for Jeffrey. We are interested in his relationship with Dorothy, and especially Sandy. We want to know how these two women are going to affect the outcome of his life, and we are terrified at the revelations about to be revealed by the repulsive Frank Booth.
I adore these aspects of the film.
Like I mentioned, the only fault I have with `Blue Velvet' is the acting, and not as a whole but in parts. I'll start with the good. Isabella Rossellini is a stunning woman who really uses everything within her to create a woman of believable desperation. She is conflicted in every scene, and this is scene marvelously. We can see each fragment of her dissention into chaos. Laura Dern is even more splendid. She delivers such a richly honest performance as young Sandy, fascinated by each new discovery, no matter how terrifying it winds up being for her. But as great as these two actresses are, the film starts to crumble when left up to the men. Dennis Hopper (who actually received praise for his performance) is just one gigantic gimmick. He never really transcends his characters stereotypes. He's a crazy psychopath, nothing more. He delivered (the same year) a wonderfully controlled performance in `Hoosiers' that I am disappointed he wasn't able to control this a little more. That said, he is still much more interesting than Kyle MacLachlan who may very well be the most boring actor since Keanu Reeves. I just really wish that someone, anyone else would have landed this role. MacLachlan just killed the high the film as a whole effectively sets.
All this said, I am fond of this film. It has so much going for it, and Lynch is just such a unique and original director who always stays true to himself. There are very few films like this one, and the ones that come close are also directed by Lynch. This is not a film for everyone, but if you are a fan of Lynch then this is a film you are bound to enjoy.
yummy! =) 
2008-08-16 - this movie is a classic mind bender! if you like david lynch's other stuff, like lost highway or wild at heart, you will like this. oh, mommy! ;)
Good Movie
2008-07-22 - I had never heard of this movie until I was watching a TV show that was describing the 10 best crime movies. I ordered it new and was pleased with the movie and the prompt delivery from Amazon.
The Hardy Boys investigate a real mystery
2008-07-14 - After his father has a stroke, clean-cut college student Jeffery Beaumont (Kyle McLaughlin) returns home to help out in his father's hardware store. While walking in a field one day, he discovers a severed ear which leads him and girlfriend, policeman's daughter, Sandy Williams (Laura Dern), on a Hardy Boys-esque investigation that takes them to the dark underbelly of their perfect American small town existence.
Imagine a 1930's film noir with sex and drugs, and the Hardy Boys as detectives, and you've got a pretty good idea of what this film is about. "Blue Velvet" takes standard crime film elements that you have seen dozens of times before and combines them into one of the most original films you have ever seen in your life. The central theme of this film is the battle between all that is wholesome, or good and that which is corrupt, or evil. The side of good is represented by Jeffery Beaumont, sort of a real-world Frank Hardy and a forerunner to McLaughlin's "Twin Peaks" character, Dale Cooper. Between Jeffery Beaumont and Dale Cooper, to me, McLaughlin is the face of innocence and this film is all about the loss of that innocence and its redemption. On the side of evil is drug-addicted, expletive-spewing Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), truly the most frightening and disturbing villain ever.
"Blue Velvet" is a very nasty, in-your-face movie that is most certainly not for all tastes (I read on the internet that many people walked out when this film was first shown in cinemas and I can see why). It is also a very weird film (although, by the standards set by David Lynch's other movies, this film is positively normal) and many scenes in it are designed to be endured rather than enjoyed. Yet, unlike many other similarly dark films, I didn't come out of this film feeling dirty (something that I felt after seeing "Sin City"). I felt that, just like Jeffery Beaumont, I had journeyed to the underworld but had returned, and in the course of that return, any evil that I had encountered had been washed away. For this reason, if you do see this film, I recommend that you stay with it until the end. The middle might be bad, but in the end, all is restored.
