I finally was able to see this film after months of waiting and waiting and waiting. The film, directed by Werner Herzog and produced by David Lynch, is based on a true story about a man who kills his mother with a sword. We know this at the beginning of the film, yet, the whole time we are supposed to figure out why. Going into this film, I had mixed expectations. On many review sites, the film had mixed reviews. I had no idea what to expect.

The story is told in a very cliche manner, with flashbacks. Usually, this would annoy me to the point of extreme anger. Fortunately, Herzog is smart and uses it in a way that tells about the killer and his background with a unique style.

The acting in this film is okay, nothing compared to Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant. The only person who did an amazing job was Grace Zabriskie, who played the killer's mother. She is amazing in this film and is slowly becoming my one of my favorite actresses ever. Michael Shannon seems to be copying his performance in "Bug" in this film. He plays the psychotic crazy guy. Chloe Sevigny is okay, but I didn't really see anything special in her performance. Willem Dafoe, surprisingly, is used very very poorly. I don't know why Herzog wasted sucha great actor to do such a small role.

One thing that I noticed straight away in this film was the music and sounds. Now, I am not an expert in Lynch, but it seems as if Lynch directed a lot of this film secretly. I mean, there are some scenes that remind me of Inland Empire and Mulholland Dr. A lot of times, music from different countries is being played. Why? I DONT KNOW!!!!!!

Another thing I would like to point out is that this film does not feel a lot like a Herzog film. Sure, Herzog sometimes does surreal stuff, but not the kind surreal of surreal in this film. I swear, I really think Lynch directed a lot of the scenes in this film. I don't want to spoil anything, but there are 2 moments in the film that are so Lynchian - I wanted to shout.

Overall, it's a great film that has a huge amount of symbolism. If you are a fan of Herzog, you should see it. If you are a fan of Lynch, you should see it. Don't expect a straight story though, or else you will be very disappointed.

Saw this today. Didn't feel like writing a new review so I figured I'd build on this one.

Like David Lynch's direction but can't stand his nebulous storytelling? This might be for you. David Lynch Lite as brought to you by Werner Herzog and... David Lynch.

Anyway, I thought this was pretty cool. A very unique but realistic character study of a murderer. You never see the murder but you see everything leading up to it. Naturally, you start out wanting to know why the guy killed his mother but as it goes on, you start asking other questions. Primarily... how did no one see this was going to happen?!!!

That's what the film was really about to me. How people in real life turn a blind eye to red flags signifying a mentally disturbed person about to do something terrible. Happens all the time. Not sure how many movies there are about it but I'd say this is one of few.

Have to strongly disagree with usaking about the acting. So Sevigny and Dafoe were decent but Michael Shannon was superb. Not the same character from Bug at all. I think his character in this film had a lot more layers but was really erratic and prone to unpredictable behavior. I think Shannon handled it great. You could tell this guy wasn't right from the moment he walked onscreen.

The look of the film is great. Shot on RED ONE so figures. Very Lynchian. Though it's a Herzog film. Honestly, I've seen three of Herzog's films so far and while they've all been good, I'm starting to think the stories of his films' productions are more out there than the films themselves. Even Aguirre didn't seem as unhinged as everyone suggests it is. Certainly nothing like it's production history would suggest. But whatever. He's still a solid director and I'll be checking out more of his films.

Anyway, good stuff.