The dialogue is difficult to hear

I found the dialogue in this movie very quiet, very difficult to hear and follow. Did anyone else notice this? At times I wasn't sure what was being said. I turned it up several times throughout the film, but the problem with that is that some of the non-dialogue sound is quite loud, so if you turn it up too much you get blasted out of your seat during (say) the red carpet scenes. It's worst in some of the most crucial parts of the movie, in particular the answering machine tapes and the stuff he picks up with the shotgun mic. It's actually beneficial to the movie in some ways, because it keeps you off your guard and adds to the murky ambiguity and confusion that the lead character is experiencing. I can't help wondering if it was done deliberately. I know this movie probably did not have a huge budget to pump into sound engineering, but it's extremely skillfully made, and the (presumed) low budget certainly doesn't show in any other aspect of the movie. Thoughts?


It is 5 AM, and you are listening to Los Angeles.