El Misterio de Silver Lake

This movie has too much and not enough.

Too much length, too many plot threads, too many characters, too many wanna-be-argute references, too many unresolved nodes. Sadly, not enough meaning.

As other reviewers noted, it tries hard to be Mulholland Drive and Donnie Darko, but it falls short of expectations, especially in the uncompelling ending.

My son (who liked it) tried to convince me to see some deeper metaphorical level, i.e. One which would be delivering some harsh criticism of Hollywood's alleged many sins. Sorry, I don't buy it: if such was the intent, then arguably the implementation defeated the purpose, ending up guilty of these very same sins.

It's not all bad: the acting is OK, as well as the photography and the cinematography. Spotting the many references is fun at first, to quickly lose interest.

To me, the real problem is the erratic, self-indulgent direction, seemingly unable to convey a meaningful consistency to the movie, a compelling raison d'être that would and should have made this movie memorable rather than a disappointing sequence of fragments. Lots of dots, unconvincingly connected. All in all, a lost opportunity.

Sorry, even though I wanted to like this movie (or possibly _because_ of that) I just cannot recommend it.

This movie is in a few words: strange, intriguing, dull, intimate, and dare I say addictive. The plot is seems pretty simple enough yet as you watch you can get lost at the movies direction- it's at times realistic and other times feels like the next scene will have something outer worldly happen. Regardless the protagonist (Andrew Garfield) whose almost a viewer himself just along for the ride except in real time is one of the movies real gems. It is definitely not for everyone rather it's not for most I believe , as some may really find it boring and/or stupid however if you're looking for something different and that will get your conspiracy senses tingling definitely one to watch.

Having heard very little about this film and but remembering its trailers, perhaps accidentally watched this film lesser on not so purpose.

Now this film has the feel of a neo noir type independent and lesser Hollywood atmosphere, and for those reasons it works. The atmosphere is very subtle and mysterious and there are a few things along the way which keeps are interest.

Unlike many films today, Under the silver lake is not so predictable which makes it a joy to watch. The runtime is quite length and at times may seem as if the film is about to end, then suddenly some other discovery occurs.

Enjoyable film simply for the adventure we see the character of Andrew Garfield goes through. Although the ending was somewhat of a letdown.

There is much here to enjoy in this likeable neo-noirish/dreamlike offering from David Robert Mitchell. It looks good throughout, has plenty of surprises, some surreal touches and generally a good feeling. At some point after halfway in begins to dawn on the viewer that it is going to be some achievement to resolve all the various and varied elements that have unfolded. Unfortunately (or just maybe fortunately) this does not seem the intention of Mitchell and even more bizarre and unresolved issues are brought up in the file stages. It is perhaps advisable then to not go into this expecting the 'detective' to solve the mystery of the missing girl or the dead dogs or the fantastic caves or the secret code, but to just enjoy the moments.

Kinda makes me sad that this film could've been phenomenal if it was more considerate to the casual viewer. Bittersweet because it's great that filmmakers are able to make movies with little to no creative interference, but sometimes it's for the best. I'll start with what I like: this film has style for days. The lighting, production design, stilted characters were all mesmerizing. What I didn't: it felt meandering, bloated, and ultimately pointless. I know there's the "that's the point" argument to counter my "it was pointless" point, but when does "that's the point" become a cop out? I do think this film will garner an audience, but if it were just a bit more orthodox, it would've found that audience instantly.