Review: ‘David Lynch: The Art Life’ explores life before ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Blue Velvet’

If this film weren’t about David Lynch, there’s a good chance viewers would end up walking out the theater, yawning away. It’s not “sexy” by any means and it runs counter to the myths of celebrity that make the famous seem more interesting and unique (even if the guy sitting at the end of most bars has done more actual living).

Ah, but this is David Lynch – and while “David Lynch: The Art Life” might seem all too normal at first, it remains true to itself while getting (surprise, surprise) more than a tad odd as it goes along. Over the course of 90 minutes, director Jon Nguyen creates a deep, sympathetic portrait of the young artist before he became the pioneering director of “Mulholland Drive,” “Blue Velvet” and, of course, “Twin Peaks” (which gets a reboot on Showtime in May).

“In those days, my world was very small,” says Lynch, recalling his childhood in one of many interviews compiled for the movie, most of which were done in his studio as he paints and smokes cigarettes. “It extended up to the grocery store in one direction and down to a friend’s house, which was like two doors down, and then the other direction down to my friend Bobby’s house.”

Lynch remembers that he “never heard his parents argue about anything” and that he grew up in a “super-happy household” that was a “foundation of love.” He also remembers how he would “sit in a mud puddle… it was so beautiful.”

Not exactly what you’d imagine from a director known for psycho-sexual mayhem. Then again, these days even the most saccharine pop stars are quick to roll out some sort of childhood trauma in what has become a manufactured script that is one part confession, three parts manipulation.

Which is what sets “The Art Life” apart from so many contemporary celebrity bio yarns. Rather than wallow in tales of childhood woe, Lynch pays tribute to his mother because, “She refused to let me have coloring books … because they would kill his creativity.”

After all, here is an artist that has made a career by creating outside the lines – which is the essence of “The Art Life.”

Even when Lynch ventures into darkness, as when he recalls seeing a bloody, naked woman as a child – there’s a dreamlike quality about it that is no less surreal than a similar scene in “Blue Velvet.”

Lynch doesn’t make that connection; he doesn’t need to. While “The Art Life” explores the genesis behind his 1977 debut, “Eraserhead,” it eschews the trappings of many celebrity biographies – the kind that usually roll out some famous names and a few testimonials for good measure.

You see, “The Art Life” is a very small film, much like that world of Lynch’s youth … that beautiful little mud puddle.