Naomi Watts: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

1. Betty Elms - Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Dr In all honesty, I'm still left confused by Mulholland Drive. It's incredibly weird, apparently non-linear, wildly unsettling and just downright mental. Basically, it's David Lynch all over, and it's probably his masterwork €“ evoking a dream-like state of utter confusion. Hell, there's a reason why this film inspires so much debate and theorising €“ it's so utterly freeform, that you have no real idea what's happening, and in what order. So being the central beam on which the whole confusing edifice rests could be something of a challenge for any actress, but Watts €“ at this point still relatively unknown €“ gamely took it on and delivered a great performance as Betty Elms as a new-to-LA actress who slowly unravels throughout the film while falling in love with an amnesiac actress. It's hard to be wildly ambiguous with a role, yet Watts pulls it off with aplomb here. Her performance is mesmeric, and if you ever needed proving of that fact, just watch Betty's audition scenes. They show an absolutely astounding range, a microcosm of a performance which sees the character devolve from fresh-faced into used-up. It's horribly compelling stuff, and Watts puts it across in extraordinary fashion. Click "next" below for the 5 that sucked...
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Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.