David Lynch’s Blue Velvet takes you in and out of suburbia’s seedy underbelly from the perspective of the audiences’ proxy, Jeffrey Beaumont. Now this little freak isn’t your typical movie protagonist. For example, Jeffrey finds and picks up (without gloves) a severed ear and keeps it. It only gets weirder from there.
Jeffrey eventually goes steady with Sandy, a cop’s daughter. On one of their romantic walks, Jeffrey performs a chicken dance. Nothing on screen or in the dialogue foreshadowed a chicken dance appearance. No one asked Jeffrey to do the chicken dance. It just sort of happened. That weirdness devolves into depravity when we find Jeffrey in a closet watching Dorothy change.
Speaking of perverts, Frank’s amyl nitrate huffs sure add fuel to the fire set by his sex addiction. Dennis Hopper portrays Frank as an uncontrollable sex fiend who sees Jeffrey as the same, just repressed. Jeffrey’s repressed desires surface during his first sexual encounter with Dorothy. He tries to fight these urges, but eventually he gives in and becomes no different from Frank.
By the time Dorothy appears naked outside Sandy’s house, Jeffrey’s darker desires are surface-level. He can’t even let go of a naked Dorothy while Sandy watches in horror. Sometimes being “neat” just isn’t enough.
Lynch does an excellent job juxtaposing the superficial exterior of suburbia with its darker underbelly just below the surface. The former is effortlessly portrayed by Laura Dern in the scenes between Jeffrey and Sandy going to a diner or taking a walk among others. Obviously, Frank represents the latter. I say “obviously” because Dennis Hopper gives the most unhinged performance any director could ask for.
But it’s Kyle McLachlan who gives the standout performance. McLachlan rarely shows Jeffrey crossing the line, but you always sense his inner sadomasochist just behind his small town boy facade … especially as Dorothy and Frank pull him deeper below the surface. The performance works because of McLachlan’s subtle, almost playful, performance.
In the mid 90s, my cousin used a device to listen to his neighbors’ phone calls. He would get excited and tell us about the latest neighborhood scandal. In hindsight, my cousin had a lot of similarities to Jeffrey Beaumont. Sometimes, your curiosity can take you down a dark path. I think I’d rather play it safe like Sandy.
That’s a wrap on our first issue of Critic’s Corner! Be sure to share the ANMR newsletter with your friends and family. The share button is below.