Blue Velvet is the story of idealistic college student turned private investigator Jeffery Beaumont as the discovery of a severed ear in a vacant field sends him tumbling into the dark side of his Idyllic 50's subarban hometown of Lumberton.
As directed by David Lynch, Blue Velvet is an engrossing sexually charged thriller about the darkness that exists in our world and what happens when a young man must come to terms with this previously unforeseen side of life. Blue Velvet has a stellar cast consisting of Kyle Maclachlan as Jeffery, Laura Dern as Sandy; Jeffery's main squeeze, Isabella Rossellini as Dorothy Vallens; the vixen in the middle of the mystery, and Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth; an oxygen guzzling, F word spewing, sex obsessed sociopath who uses Dorothy as his sick means of pleasure.
Dennis Hopper and Kyle Maclachlan make the perfect off-setting pair in the film. Jeffery represents the young-faced hope and goodness in the world, while Booth represents the dark underbelly lurking beneath everyday life. Dennis Hopper is a disturbing joy to watch on the screen as he blurts out "fuck" after every other word and is sent into an animalistic fit of rage whenever he catches someone looking at him. He is the ultimate mentally disturbed monster of the silver screen. The first time we set eyes on him as he dons an oxygen mask (to apparently help regulate his breathing when he gets excited) and yells "Baby wants to fuck!!!", we cant help but be intrigued and disgusted with his character. A whole other movie could be made on this character and his backstory.
Kyle Maclachlan though, is the real focus of the film as a young man that is litterally put through hell and a variety of disturbing tests and temptations as the darkness that he has confronted threatens to corrupt him as well. What starts out for him as a joyful wish fullfillment of investigating an engrossing mystery quickly turns into a struggle to bring some light into the world of darkness that he discovers. His anguished sob of "Why are there people like Frank? Why is there so much trouble in this world?!" perfectly captures the essence of his character, a young man that is maturing as he struggles to comprehend this newfound world of darkness.
With plenty of quotable lines, engrossing characters, adult themes, and an intriguing mystery at its heart; Blue Velvet is one of the greatest pieces of American Cinema that is definently a must-see for all over the age of 18. Jeffery couldn't have put it any better than when he muses "It's a strange world, isn't it?"
4/5
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