Wah-wah-what?!? How exactly did you come to think David Lynch was involved with
Fight Club in any way? Not only does it not "really" count as a David Lynch film, it just plain is
not a David Lynch film in any way, shape or form. Fincher is the David you're looking for there.
I liked
Mulholland Drive OK, proto-typical Lynch in virtually every way. I can't say I loved it, and I didn't come close to putting it in my personal top ten for the year, but it was an at-times interesting exercise in style and Lynchian visions. Of Lynch's previous work,
Mulholland is most like
Lost Highway (1997), which is the one Lynch flick that I have absolutely no use for (other than
Dune, which hardly counts as his personal vision and sensibility). But while
Mulholland Drive is just as ridiculously convoluted, dense, and purposefully without a narrative solution, the nightmare vignettes and cartoon character types are more appealing on some basic level than
Lost Highway's. Plus the Hollywood element is always fun for me.
I suppose the best bits of
Mullholland Drive are as good as anything in
Blue Velvet (1986) or
"Twin Peaks" (1990), and the cast was perfect. But as an overall piece, for me it was far short of those high-points in his career.
Truth be told, I think
The Elephant Man (1980) is still his most perfect film, a strong narrative that also happened to fit his visionary sense and stylistic approaches perfectly.
Blue Velvet and the first season of
"Twin Peaks" are still amazing and original works, and Lynch should very much be held in esteem for what he accomplished.
The Straight Story (1999) was a wonderful change of pace, and proof that he can be a consumate storyteller without being overwhelmed by style. But the rest of his work seems very clearly to be exercises in style. And not style over substance, but style
AS substance. For me personally, a little bit of that goes a long way.
I'd grade
Mulholland Drive a B-, but add to that it is a must-see for any David Lynch fan - no doubt about that. While I like and admire much of his filmography, I don't consider myself a Lynch fan, and
Mulholland Drive is a perfect example of why.