Southland Tales (2006) User Reviews

big, messy, but enjoyable

[snow0r · 6/10 · 2 December 2007]

You can get a pretty good idea of Southland Tales from a quick description of its characters. Dwayne Johnson plays Boxer Santaros, a movie star in Richard Kelly's all-too-near dystopian future. But it's not that straightforward. Johnson plays The Rock playing Boxer Santaros, while Boxer is playing the role of a character he's researching, one Jericho Kane. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays an ageing porn-star with a business portfolio that includes energy drinks. And Sean William Scott? Well, he plays a cop's amnesiac twin brother, as part of a neo-Marxist scheme to overthrow the government. Or does he? And you thought Donnie Darko was confusing. Welcome to Southland...

The year is 2008. Justin Timberlake - did I forget to mention him? He plays a drugged-up Iraq war veteran with a huge scar on his face. Who sits in a huge chair with a huge rifle, guarding "Fluid Karma", an ultra-valuable perpetual motion wave machine that is the new form of power since oil has become rare and therefore massively expensive. Politics, anyone? Anyway, JT (who might be telepathic) narrates over an introduction comprised of graphic novel slides and MTV-meets-FOX news bulletins that guides us from our present to the "present" of Kelly's 2008 Southland. The passage of time has not been kind to the US; a nuke has gone off in Texas, and the country has become a police state. The most "recent" clip reveals that Boxer (played by Dwayne Johnson playing The Rock) has disappeared without a trace, which is where the movie begins. Or does it? By this stage, you just might have gotten the impression that Southland Tales is a bit of a mess. And you'd be right. Kelly's attempt at a politically-charged all-encompassing comment on the world that can also appeal to the youth of today does ultimately fall flat, but that's not to say it's without its merits. The satire's often sharp, and the way the movie skips from genre-to-genre (dystopian conspiracy to Scooby Doo farce to musical to action movie) works surprisingly well without jarring too much. The music, while not perfect (I'm pretty sure Black Rebel Motorcycle Club won't have the kind of comeback that allows them to host LA's 4th of July weekend party next year...) creates some of the movie's more memorable moments, such as JT's Killers dance number and the captivating three-way dance toward the end.

The deliberately exaggerated performances are, for the most part, very good, with Johnson capturing the action man (playing an action man - going through a crisis - playing an action man) role very well. The way he switches from the kind of guy who pours beer over himself as a form of refreshment to jittery neurotic mess is both funny and engaging, allowing you to see a little of the man beneath the steely facade.

Unfortunately, this is as close as you'll get to the characters. While the overplaying is amusing, it excludes you on an emotional level. Donnie Darko worked so well because it drew you in, but Southland seems to deliberately keep you at arm's length lest you miss out on some of Kelly's political messages. For all its mystery, intrigue, and action, it feels a bit soulless, and goes out with a whimper as opposed to the bang it so desires.

Southland Tales is an ambitious film, but a messy one, and while it may not work on the kind of level it's aspiring to, in a movie climate where so many films play it safe, at least Kelly tries. Very flawed, but entertaining nonetheless.

Tales from Cannes

[jdanielshaffer · 4/10 · 22 May 2006]

Now, this film has some definite problems, but it receives a 10 in my book for the director's insistence on trying something different. This film certainly doesn't offer a story that fits the A,B,C, plot mold of standard Hollywood pictures and it lacks slightly in characterization, but makes up for it with idea's, experimental style, and a "european" view of the current climate of the United States of America (now matter what your politics).

As an American viewer currently in France, I'm astounded that there are not more critics praising this feature. I understand the casting choices are odd, but after hearing Richard Kelly speak of the film as a "puzzle" it seems to make more and more sense as I replay the anarchic gonzo like images in my head.

This film is not about the characters, but the situation in which the characters inhabit. It's an experience. I mean do any of us actually "care" about David Bowman in 2001? Yes, the oddities in the film grow astoundingly quirky (bowel movement thermonuclear baby) but see this film simply to experience something new and to insure more films that don't fit the mold are made. I mean that's why we see Jarmusch pictures, right?

Tales that hardly fit in your mind!

[HiddenVoice · 6/10 · 24 May 2006]

This film has one of the most offbeat ideas I've ever come across.They are so unique in a way that they make Donnie Darko look cheap.But it has the same problems like any other film with outstanding ideas.It lacks a definite focus.

I got a chance to get a look at the film at the Cannes festival where it was premiering to a bunch of critics who pretty much didn't like it.And there's no surprise to that.Although,you have to admire Kelly's attempt on something way out of anyones imagination.The film is given a very different approach and it will go down in history as the most offbeat/outstanding failures.He has it all,a mind blowing story,that we hardly get, watching the film the first time, great characters,excellent writing,sets,music,cinematography and perhaps a decent directing.

Kelly surpasses any one's expectation when you go into details about this film.But he leaves a chilling disappointment when you actually watch the entire film ,which is longer than it needs to be.He misses his audience from the very beginning.It seems like he is lost in a cloud of ideas and never gave a hard thought on how to put them on screen,and most importantly ,how will people interpret those issues he is trying to depict.

The story,I don't know how to put it,is kind of out of my reach.It requires repeated viewing to fully understand the plot,but if you do get it, it could turn out to be a cult classic.The sad thing is that I didn't quite get it.Okay,here goes....The film is set in the year 2008,about the downfall of the American society,the economy,and major environmental disaster which is taking place.The whole world is at the brink of destruction,war ,poverty and all those issues are getting more and more serious,and in between these events, a number of Characters are having problems of their own.A Boxer is an action star who seems to be amnesiac and somehow he meets this porn star Krysta ,who is starting her own reality show.David Clark ,who is a police officer with a secret to a conspiracy within the government.And all their stories intervene and chaos begins and confusion reigns.

Trust me ,I didn't get what was going on the first 30 minutes,then it kind of made sense and I knew what Kelly's intentions were.He was trying his ass out to bring us something new but loses everything and never achieves what he could achieve.

I would say this film had massive expectations from audiences ,me personally.Donnie Darko was a film unlike anything I've seen before and it was unique in a number of ways.Here he tried but fails miserably,and in total embarrassment.Kelly somehow may have been affected by the failure of Domino ,which he wrote.But I have to say, you guys should check this film out.For his first film's sake.I mean there is a lot to watch here,the sets are highly creative and a splendid Cinematography in aid.There are some wonderful comic moments and a number of interesting dramatic and exciting moments,even when ideas were floating all over the film.The films main problem is that it doesn't decide what to do.How to present it's story,it's full of confusion and hardly will there be a positive reaction to Kelly's execution.I really found the film somewhat frustrating at time and also somewhat astonishing.It had its moments but it never tries to be the next big thing.For one thing,the characters were underdeveloped,and I had no idea what Kelly was trying to prove.There are hardly any explanations,but I believe if you watch it several times,there is a great chance that you might actually get it.And then you can call it classic.

Performances are okay.The Rock underplays his part,Gellar is fine as a porn star turned reality TV host.And as usual Sean Willaim Scott ain't funny.And the rest of the cast is quite comme si comme sa!

Overall,a film that should join "I heart Huckabees",or "Life Aquatic" as being different and unique on the surface but from the inside it's all shallow and bland.And yes utterly confusing.An interesting disappointment ,I guess.

OR,

Maybe because it was only half complete and everything was jumbled,and mismashed.That's why I didn't get it.Or maybe something else.

The 160 minute cut, that will never be seen...

[JoOoB · 2 April 2007]

Or at least, not until Director's cut DVD, somewhere down the road...

I was lucky enough to attend a private screening of Southland Tales a few weeks back(early March'07). The film was in it's full 160min form, and was only being screened to see if the international distributors want to release the film in full form OR wanted to wait for the re-tooled 137min cut.(I have recently found out still has about 2-3 months of visual effect's to be finished) On to the film... The film opens with the narrator's(Justin Timberlake) voice-over repeating "This is the way the world ends" and then, it just about does... A huge mushroom cloud fill's the sky over Texas, but you are never told by who? or why?.... or are you?... The whole first act of Southland Tales kinda hit's over the head with a large amount of info, but never really any back-story(I have the read the first graphic novel, which helped)... The story evolves slowly, but the film is never boring or does it ever feel slow. The musical numbers(if you want to call them that) work great in my opinion and gives the film a nice tone... The final act of the film is by far the best(this is where people will be divided), and the full vision of the film is summed up in a very simple way(I don't think many of the critics got this), which is nice because the film is very complicated... so to have the answer be something so simple, was perfect.

The acting was surprisingly Good... Justin Timberlake and John Larrquette offer the most accomplished performances. While Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson gives his best performances to date. Sarah M. Geller is funny and pulls off her role as the "Great Whore", while Seann W. Scott's double-role is probably the easiest to connect with.

The soundtrack is the best thing going for the film. Moby's score is breath-taking and most of the tracks are from great bands such as Muse, The Killers, and The Pixies... (most of which, is live)

Over all the film is a deep, entertaining, funny, and most of all... different.

I gave it a 8 out of 10 (And I guessing the screenings went well, because the distributors decided to wait for the shorten and visually improved cut)

Bloated, superficial junk.

[mark-506 · 1/10 · 15 November 2007]

First of all, I freely admit to being pretty much the only person I know who didn't go for Richard Kelly's 2001 debut film Donnie Darko. I found it a weak attempt at David Lynch-level pop surrealism aimed at self-serious teenagers. Years later, I agreed to watch it again, after reading all the notes on the film and after Kelly, with his "director's cut," bent over backwards to convince his audience that what he really made was a complicated science fiction movie, not a typically Lynchian drama about a lonely loser's fantasy life during the moments before his death. It made more sense, but for me it also took away what little heart the story actually had. Now that Kelly's long-awaited sophomore effort Southland Tales has hit the screen, I am more convinced than ever that the emperor's not wearing any clothes. Richard Kelly is a bad filmmaker.

Set in a sci fi version of 2008 Los Angeles, Southland Tales is a muddled mess, tying together a trillion different plot lines that revolve around the Republican vice presidential candidate and his family, a Hollywood movie star (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) who has gone missing, a national security tracking system that keeps tabs on everybody, a porn star (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who is trying to sell a script she wrote with The Rock, Seann William Scott playing two characters, a mysterious alternative fuel, neo-Marxists, World War III, the Apocalypse, the Second Coming, and legions of cheesy B actors and former "Saturday Night Live" stars. And Justin Timberlake.

It's ambitious, to say the least. Overly ambitious. WAY overly ambitious. While Kelly continues to ape Lynch's trademark weirdness - Wild at Heart, Lynch's only self-congratulatory film, is the main influence, but Mulholland Drive is there too (Kelly even uses Mulholland's Latin chanteuse Rebekah Del Rio in a similar scene), and actually there's quite a bit of Kathryn Bigelow's mediocre, undeservedly admired Strange Days in this movie too - the life Kelly's leading as a director is more akin to that of George Lucas: Lots of half-baked ideas, some terrible casting choices, and nobody to lean over his shoulder to tell him "Make some serious script revisions, or have somebody else write your screenplay." Kelly seems overwhelmingly convinced that he is a genius, as his pretentious storyline shows - only the last three "chapters" of an apparent six-chapter saga are presented in the film (hey, just like the first Star Wars movies!), with audiences expected to buy the first three chapters in graphic novel form - essentially forcing people to once again do lots of homework in order to fully "get" the movie, just as with Donnie Darko. Man, what an ego this guy's got. But I'm not buying it. Despite the heavy-handed use of Biblical references (gee, that's a new one) and classic poetry (particularly T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men, which Kelly paraphrases), the low humor and flat dialogue in this tepid satire are what betray Kelly's true sensibilities: Look, there's Kevin Smith dressed up like an old man! Haw haw, John Larroquette from "Night Court" got his private parts tasered! Tee hee, The Rock just called that slutty Bai Ling a "bitch" and then she fell on the floor going "Ooh!" - that'll show her! This is an AWFUL film, devoid of any truth, emotion, intelligence or genuine creativity. (Kelly works hard to explain a lot of his story here, too, and guess what - in the end, it's kind of like Donnie Darko, with its parallel universes and temporal shifts and such.) The actors, most of whom are the sort who need a lot of direction to be good, recite their lines without feeling, as lost as the rest of us. (I assume Johnson, Scott and Gellar signed on for Kelly's hipster cred; the rest of the cast were surely just hungry for any work whatsoever.) Even the CG effects are poorly done! Even the cinematography's bad! I could go on, but what depresses me most is that there will doubtlessly be new fans who will defend all this shabbily-executed nonsense as "visionary," and the misguided cult of Richard Kelly will only grow.

Terrible

[fury159 · 1/10 · 21 March 2008]

I'm throwing in the towel on Richard Kelly. While I was never a big fan of "Donnie Darko", I felt it was an interesting beginning and a writer/director to watch out for. While I thought his script for "Domino" was good, this trash named "Southland Tales" is proof that Kelly has extremely promising ideas, he just can't fulfill on the promise of them and then he crams as much stuff as he can into one movie to mask over the fact he doesn't get the concept of what he's writing about. I'm all for films that think outside of the box. I would have been for a movie that was about a neo-marxist movement, a movie about an amnesiac time-traveler, a movie about manipulative drugs used during wars, but to stuff that all into one film and expect it to make sense? Not one of the characters makes sense, the plot can't focus at all, and it just doesn't add up, at all.

For those who care--but many won't--that's how cult films work

[Chris Knipp · 7/10 · 25 November 2007]

Southland Tales clearly has the same distinctive mind behind it as Kelly's cult debut Donnie Darko, and above all a sense of impending apocalypse. Otherwise, the effect is very different, and after all the wait (during which Kelly may have wasted time doing a somewhat unnecessary Director's Cut of Darko), the result is nuttier, more complicated, a lot less solemn (though even more serious) and overall brilliantly unsuccessful, as only an overblown sophomore effort can be. This time Kelly depicts a world that is much larger and more absurd and he plunges deep, deep into current politics--with specific yet over-the-top reference to terrorism and government repression.

It's 2008, but forget 2001; instead, there was a series of nuclear attacks on Texas in 2005 that caused the USA to be totally retrofitted. The States are partitioned off now and you need a visa to get from one to another. The Internet is under total government control, an election is coming (no surprise there) and the Republicans have taken over California (no huge revelation there either): in fact, the movie's set-up seems unnecessarily hasty and sweeping and signals a gap between plan and follow-through that plagues the whole mad effort.

A whole lot else is going on besides. Sarah Michele Guller is an important TV personality, Krysta Now, whose programs combine porno, celebrity talk, and politics. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is Boxer Santaros, a movie star with right-wing connections who's been kidnapped by neo-Marxists and had his memory erased. He's also somebody else. Or thinks he is. Or other people do. Seann William Scott has a doppelganger, because a glitch has happened in the Fourth Dimension. Justin Timberlake is disfigured from the Iraq war and is trying to kill somebody. And that's only the beginning--or maybe part of the end.

All this is astoundingly ambitious, complicated, and curiously uninvolving compared to Donnie Darko, which aroused our sympathies for the soulful. melancholy young genius embodied memorably by Jake Gyllenhaal. "The Rock's" appealing too--though, not inappropriately for a movie that teeters constantly on the brink of Sci-Fi media parody, he tends to look like a cyborg. On some level's there's appeal also in three or four of the other characters in this shifting-focus ensemble piece. But while Jake carried the world's fate on his shoulders, "Rock" Johnson's watchword is "I'm a pimp, and a pimp never considers suicide." Hard to warm to that.

And though it's hard to care about any of the characters in Southland Tales or its put-on plot line(s), every scene has so much going on in it, so many farcical brilliant props scattered around, you can feel the strips of cult film forming as you watch. Most people aren't going to care. Some people already do care passionately. And eventually a lot more gradually will join the cult--while the majority will leave it alone. That's how cult films work

One of the worst/funniest movies I have ever seen.

[DaveDe70 · 1/10 · 16 November 2007]

As the movie was going on, I felt like I was watching a movie made out of a fourteen year old boys journal. I will change my review if Kelley was trying to make the most ridiculous movie ever, because he succeed brilliantly at that.

This movie will become like Rocky Horror Picture show, where audiences will be shouting out the amazingly bad dialog and the hands down worst ever voice over narration ever recorded on film.

This is one of those films that beats you over the head with how "different" it is. It's also a muddled mess of plot that is beyond confusing, which it's supporters will say is the point. Audiences don't mind putting together a puzzle and having a few missing pieces, but it's kind of annoying when you give us pieces from 1000 different puzzles.

This must be based on a script that Kelley wrote as his master's thesis in film, because he tried to cram as many different genres and other director's styles into it as he could. Clockwork Orange, Fifth Element, Robert Altman, David Lynch, Airplane, Quentin Tarantino. This causes the film to become a blender full of goop that tastes like nothing.

Here comes the spoiler.

The good thing it has going for it, is that it's obviousness, bad dialog/acting, and it's unearned righteousness make for some HILARIOUS scenes. I am still laughing at the monkey's in the fifth dimension. The out of nowhere pointless musical sequence brought tears to my eyes.

A beautiful mess

[setherson-45250 · 10/10 · 8 December 2019]

It is not difficult to see why this film was initially panned: it's messy, bizarre, and borderline-incoherent at times. But it's also brilliant. It is, in fact, quite possibly the apotheosis of "postmodern" cinema: quantum physics and esoteric Philip K. Dick references exist alongside washed-up SNL alumni .

It is hilarious, odd, thought-provoking, prophetic, and eminently re-watchable. I have seen it at least 20 times myself. For my money, it is superior to Kelly's fantastic film debut Donnie Darko, and indeed one of the most interesting movies of the new century.

Will you like it? It is quite possible that you won't. But I can guarantee this much: you've never seen anything quite like it before, and it's likely that you won't see anything quite like it ever again.

An all-over-the-place film that sometimes hits it's mark

[zach_phat · 7/10 · 7 January 2009]

Sceptical at first about the obvious ensemble cast of supporting character actors, I found this movie enjoyable and even touching at times. It seems to vacillate between action film, dark comedy, musical piece and sci-fi thriller, never settling on a particular genre. One theme is clear throughout; an obvious distaste for the recent political direction our country has taken. My favorite moments are when reality is suspended in order to convey feeling and emotion through music or visual effects. So many films these days present us with scenarios or physical devices that we are supposed to accept as real and plausible. Kelly throws all this out the window by mocking his story within the story. Even when it's over I'm not so sure any of it happened.

To me it was a movie about pursuing what you believe and having the self-awareness to accept things you have done and let them go even when you aren't sure why they happened.

There are two main drawbacks in my opinion. Kelly can't seem to decide which story is more important (maybe that's the point but it makes for a confusing movie). Also, this film is about 2 and 1/2 hours long. IMO it needed to be longer to allow for more development, (though the confusion puts you in the mindset of the characters) or it needed to be shorter to keep it moving.

I liked this film. I had to watch it twice (and the last half 3 times) to get my mind around it.

randomness without meaning

[tsuchinoko · 2/10 · 20 November 2007]

After over a year of waiting, Southland Tales is finally out in theaters. The slightly abridged version, still clocking in at well over 2 hours, boasts an incredibly recognizable cast, and very well done visuals.

But, with such a long wait after the disastrous Cannes screening, and a well publicized year of graphic novel press releases, editing mixing, and many, many reassurances, how does the final product rate up? Now, for me, Donnie Darko was a good, thoroughly fleshed out movie with good dialog and characters that felt real and a situation that was both funny and ultimately horrifying. Though there were plot holes and vague situations that left most of its viewers confused, Donnie Darko was a good film that left people happily asking questions and trying to figure out the films many possible explanations. A young filmmaker creating a movie like that on his first try is pretty impressive, so much so that Richard Kelly was billed for a time as the "next big thing".

By sheer contrast, Southland Tales is a huge step down from his previous film. To be honest, I was looking forward to this movie for over a year, and forced myself to be optimistic in the face of constant signs that this film really WAS looking to be the next Xanadu. The initial concept is not all that unique; an ensemble piece set in the final days of the world. The problem is, Mr. Kelly cannot seem to settle on a singular theme or method of storytelling for this film. Most ensemble films have an underlying theme, whether it be familial distance or redemption in "Magnolia", social distance in "Babel", or prejudice in "Crash". Southland Tales doesn't have any kind of organization in the filming of its scenes. Most of the characters don't have any real motivation behind their actions, and nearly every scene hit a kind of dead-end as to where it was trying to go.

Its hard to see where the director was going with many aspect of the film. The much criticized casting of the film, though very interesting on paper, is in reality just as bad as it sounded. Most of the actors look out of place, the acting is some of the worst that I've seen since the trailer for Baby Geniuses. Sarah Michelle Gellar is completely wasted in this film, Dwayne Johnson is improving, though he still needs work, and a project like this is not the best way to do that, and nearly all other actors in this film act as though they are appearing in a vagisil commercial and are wishing they didn't take the audition. Not all actors fail in these roles though; Seann William Scott is surprisingly flexible in the role, though in the first half of the film he looks uncomfortable, Mandy Moore is only in several scenes, but her acting is some of the most natural sounding in the whole thing. For me, the two most shocking transformations in the film were those of Cheri Oteri (who actually has more to do here than most of the leads, and caries some of her lines very well), and in probably the best special effect of the film, Lou Taylor Pucci done up as a ghetto white boy in probably one of the least publicized roles in the film. Justin Timberlake is good only in his narration, though on camera he actually is a rather pointless character.

Gregg Araki made several films in the mid-90s billed as the "een Apocalypse" trilogy. Though there were no actual teens in it from what i remember, these films had many cameos from actors cast out of type, many random moments that didn't seem to fit into the rest of the film, as well as a director that tried to comment on the modern world while placing the story in a setting that could not possible fit into context of our world. Just like Gregg Araki, Richard Kelly makes much use of poetry that has mostly no real connection to the story. Robert Frost and T.S. Elliot are constantly mentioned, as well as visual references to the work of Philip K Dick. Often in the film, this material, as well as others, are so often used it gets really annoying.

I'm not trying to deter anyone from seeing this film. After Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly has a built-in fan base who will see his work no matter how terrible it is. I'm sure some of those people were in the audience at the sold out showing that i saw this film in. Seeing it that way, i knew that this movie was the kind to be laughed AT, not laughed WITH. I just hope that Richard Kelly with learn from this mistake and organize his scripts better, or with enough of these he will lose the few supporters that he has kept over the past few years.

So, now after ALL that, what was the point of it all? 144 minutes of exposition and false hopes for a logical flow to the whole thing, is there meaning to it all? Spoilers for the ending....the world doesn't end, and if it does the film ends before the big event.

By the way, the much hyped scene where Timberlake lip-syncs to The Killers "Things that I've done", is by far one of the most underwhelming scenes in the film. The whole things feels kinda pointless.

Hmmm, and after using quotes from the book of revelations to justify floating ice cream trucks, nuclear baby bowel movements, and prophetic film scripts, is there a final message that the movie has for us? A sort of finality to it all that will make it sit easier for us to sit through? Quoting the film's final line, "Cuz he is a pimp...and pimps, don't kill themselves". Wow Richard, how amazing...like, totally...wow...

I normally recommend this film to nobody.

[devv1988 · 10/10 · 31 March 2008]

This is the way the world ends. Not with a whimper, but with a bang.

This is a film about all of the seemingly random events that lead up to the end of the world. And it's also a comedy.

That says it all right there, doesn't it?

When this film ended, I ran to tell every one I could find about it. The odd thing I found about it was that I ended nearly every one of these conversations with the following:

"It was amazing, but don't see it. You won't like it."

It's strange to hope that a film I feel so passionately about should not be seen by the very people I want to discuss it with. However, that's exactly the way I feel here. This film is not for everybody; in fact, there are only a precious few out of all of the people who see it that will even tolerate its existence. But you know what? That really isn't important.

Art is subjective, and no matter how many times I bother to explain a difficult concept to somebody who hated this film, I realize that it will never work long before the conversation ends. The problem is that these difficult concepts are actually very simplistic: Richard Kelly had Dwayne Johnson spoof the stereotypical, apocalyptic action-hero throughout the film. This included over-dramatic readings of his lines, delayed reactions and odd vocal dynamics.

What? You say that it wasn't intentional, and that it was just Johnson's poor acting skills?

This is where the small-minded fail to grasp the most simplistic of concepts. The great analytical film student will analyze a crooked frame and declare the brilliance of its intent; they will say that this intentional error supports the themes of the piece. So why does the same not go for Southland Tales?

Each one of these already-marked actors has broken out of their shells for this movie. The fact that everybody stereotypes them attests to Kelly's genius in assigning them the roles; however, it also proves how unfortunately small-minded today's modern audience has become.

Was this film a mess? Absolutely, in every sense of the word. But was it a coherent mess? That's the real question, and I think that I can safely say that it is. This film is nowhere near as difficult to understand as anybody would have you believe. The concepts are straightforward and are practically dictated to you by the narrator; this becomes essential to the understanding of the story, as there is just way too much going on to take in on your own. However, instead of hindering the film, it makes these seemingly unrelated scenes string together into a true tapestry that is worth exploring.

So, you know what? I'm going to go against my own advice and advise anybody and everybody who reads this review to go out and see this film. If you don't like it, don't come back to this website whining about it, because nobody here has the tolerance to explain things to you that you will never understand. No amount of discussion of cinematography, lighting or the fantastically haunting score by Moby is going to change the mind of an already jaded viewer.

But maybe, just maybe, you will like it. You'll get a chance to experience something you're likely to rarely, if never, experience again. Because as all of us who enjoyed the film know:

It had to be this way.

It is good.

[jeremycohen · 7/10 · 2 October 2007]

I don't know why so many people hate this movie. I saw the finished cut at Fantastic Fest and I thought it was really good. Really really confusing, but good nonetheless. Definitely for a more intellectual crowd. Definitely warrants multiple viewings. But still really good.

Way different than Donnie Darko but similar at the same time. The acting is amazing. the production design is amazing the cinematography is amazing. the main drawback is that the story is really confusing,mainly due to the fact that there are way too many characters. but even with those problems, the movie is really really good.

jaw-dropping fiasco

[Buddy-51 · 2/10 · 8 May 2008]

"Southland Tales," the latest film by "Donnie Darko"'s Richard Kelly, is like the movie equivalent of one of those whistles that only dogs can hear; it is pitched so far out of ordinary human range that most viewers will be left scratching their heads, wondering where the hell the joke is and why they just don't get it.

The movie, made in 2006 and released in 2007, takes place in Los Angeles in the not-too-distant future (July 2008), three years after a series of nuclear explosions have all but obliterated Texas and placed the rest of the country on a state of high terror alert. As in most post-apocalyptic scenarios, the threat to national security opens the door for a right wing cabal to take over the government and begin violating the privacy rights of its citizens. For counterbalance, there is also a group of loony neo-Marxists bent on wresting control from the aforementioned Fascists. The movie features Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) as a conservative movie star and future son-in-law to a Republican vice-Presidential candidate who becomes a pawn in the life-or-death match between the two clashing ideologies - the outcome of which might well spell the demise of the human race as we know it.

Despite the seriousness and topicality of the subject matter, "Southland Tales" is basically played for laughs, turning the end of the world into an absurd, over-the-top, dystopic farce that thinks it's being hip and knowing about life in a post-9/11/Homeland Security/ Patriot Act world, but which is actually only cheesy, smart-alecky and incoherent. For a satire to work it must have discipline as well as the kind of tethering to the real world that one finds in movies like "Dr. Strangelove" or "Network." Here, the film establishes no familiar reference point upon which to build any kind of compelling drama. As a result, we quickly lose interest and focus, while the enterprise itself spins ever increasingly out of the filmmaker's control.

Janeane Garofalo, Sarah Michelle Gellar, John Larroquette, Jon Lovitz, Mandy Moore, Amy Poehler, Miranda Richardson, Seann William Scott, Wallace Shawn and Justin Timberlake are just some of the actors who might want to seriously consider getting this piece of cinematic excrescence expunged from their resumes.

The greatest offense wrought by this eclectic and unholy mixture of sophomoric satire, comic book realism, grunge chic and apocalyptic paranoia is that it runs for an interminable two hours and twenty-four minutes, making this hands-down the most unendurable and unwatchable movie travesty of the past several years.

Disappointing

[pasfroid · 3/10 · 18 November 2007]

The real failure of this film isn't that it's overcomplicated in terms of plot. It is definitely overloaded with plots and subplots, characters, and various allusions to the arts. Its downfall is that it uses its central theme of media criticism as an excuse not to present its ideas coherently -- it critiques an incoherent form in an incoherent way. Pot Kettle Black.

The primary thing that keeps the film from succeeding as a whole is its constant shifts in tone. While the filmmakers might argue that they are aping/satirizing the way we get information through the media, it makes for a rotten experience at the cinema. Some scenes are sketch comedy, some are ponderous (in a good sense), there is a bit of action and bit of fun with setting of the film. Without a truly riveting lead character or other weighted focus point it falls apart -- really by the conclusion of the film it's just white noise.

The casting is meant to be part of the media critique, but it's works against the film to keep thinking, 'hey -- that's the guy from Revenge of the Nerds and Moonlighting again', and keeps you distracted from the plot and characters' relationship to the plot. When thinking of this aspect of the film AFTER viewing it's a straightforward idea -- hey the filmmakers are saying that the government is using entertainment to keep us from following the real news, man! But during the actual experience of watching the film, the casting starts one thinking of Mars Attacks or dare I say it, Cannonball Run......

The lighting was very flat, which I assume again is part of the 'fast food media' critique - but ugly is still ugly. Especially considering Donnie Darko I was expecting something worth looking at visually. There are some big IDEAS presented visually, but they are not visually interesting in a formal sense. There has to be SOMETHING for the audience to hang its hat on beyond an idea. Cinema is a sensate experience, not merely an intellectual one.

I look forward to reading about this someday in Scott Tobias's "My Year Of Flops - Redux" on the Onion AV Club....

Dude Where's My Car Meets Surf Nazi's Must Die, Genius or Dire Mess?

[o_cubitt · 1/10 · 18 December 2007]

Southland Tales plays like the nightmarish counterpart to Dude Wears My Car - linked by Sean William Scott it similarly dabbles in Apocalyptic scenarios, other dimensions, memory loss and seemingly share many of the 'sci-fi' costumes from DWMC.

It is clear after several minutes that we are witnessing some incredibly personal vision from Kelly, every performance is nuanced in a way that is impossible to understand - in the hands of another director such as Lynch the overly dramatic tongue-in-cheek delivery might have worked in the context and world that he creates - indeed many of the actors and characters here seem pulled from the world of Lynch but then dumped in sub Troma nonsense reminiscent of but not as fun as 'Surf Nazis Must Die'.

Whatever the intentions of Kelly - whether or not this is deeply satirical or a comment on the current state of World/North American Social politics doesn't matter - the characters are literally laughable - the politics naive and at every moment ill conceived. Kelly wields ideas with brutish self-involvement. Conspiracy theories, love affairs, racial tensions, the lasting affects of war on soldiers and civil unrest the very things that seem to be what Kelly is looking to explore and understand yet they are rendered in a manner that can only be described as hammy - any potential for us to empathise or understand any of the characters is destroyed by Kelly's direction.

The Marxists have a laughably bad understanding of politics, their violence is (intentionally ?) comic and we cannot believe that they believe in what they are doing.

The Rock appears ridiculous. Gellar is unconvincing and irritating. USIDent a particularly unsuccessful and uninteresting 'Big Brother' run by people sporting cheap-as-chips see-thru anoraks (i'm sure there's a point to them).

The saving grace in this film is Sean William Scott. He seems to still be in DWMC - confused and on the trail of what the hell is going on - we share in his confusion and his performance seems spot on - eternally questioning everyone's ( and perhaps even Kelly's) actions.

I could be wrong but unless I have missed something huge - some hint at how one is meant to read this film - this film simply disappoints. Southland Tales is a bizarre and terrible example of contemporary film-making. There should be a message on the end of every copy of Donnie Darko "Do Not Feel Obliged to See Southland Tales".

Now we have to wait until the next Richard Kelly type director comes along to save us from Kelly himself.

Karmic Fluid

[tedg · 5 September 2008]

I liked this enough to tell you in the first sentence that it would have been a candidate for one of only two 4-star ratings I give per year.

If you are an average viewer, you will be put off by the apparent narrative incoherence, the seeming lack of center and the childish nature of some of the devices. That's all fair enough. But let me point you to two things that make it for me.

The first is that it is inherently cinematic. It makes about as much sense when the sound is turned off. Indeed I watched the whole thing through this way once and it actually makes more sense. There's lots of cinematic nesting: movies about movies; videos, narratives and disguises within. There's lots of causality denoted visually. You will find scores of quotes from other films, many more than those "parody" teen movies. And you'll discover many of your favorite intelligent but not famous actors.

That would be enough for me, but there's something else. In fact, though the story is confusing, deliberately made so through how it unfolds, it does make complete sense. It makes as much sense as, say, "The Matrix." I wish it didn't, but there you are. But its the way the story slips about that is pretty wonderful. You see, a narrative works by the way the pieces connect.

Usually we don't have to work because the way the pieces connect is the way they happen in real life: the causal flow of the narrative telling is the same as in the story. But the detective story, and modern noir changed that and now we have a variety of causal connections that can glue the bits together. Even these you don't normally notice unless the writer — as here — makes the shifts between bits cover a greater distance than usual.

Pay attention to this. Greenaway uses reference to number sequence. Barney uses progress through the sexual encounter, clever that. Lynch provides these discontinuities by having characters shift selves — a technique of discovery. Joyce — who in a way is the gold standard because he reified this sort of art through cognitive plumbing connection — depends on notational congruence. All these are exciting as getout in the hands of their masters.

But this is different, more rooted in noir, in cinema. These elements are connected in ways that only read in film.

Here's what I mean: film has evolved a set of notions we call noir. These capture two worlds; the world of the story where the laws of the universe seem to be deliberately arranged by strange occurrences, "mistakes" and coincidences to play havoc with key characters. Then there is the (usually implied) second world where those laws are manipulated and we the viewers sit. In almost all noir films, this effect only occurs in the long form, meaning that it is apparent when seem over the whole story.

Now look here. For all intents, there is no long form here, just a sequence of medium- sized events, each of which contain rather than follow the previous ones. This form was pioneered (I believe) by Altman. The narrative glue of the whole is how the segments slip against one another. We have "Magnolia" that plays with this concept as well, this slipperage. Its the connection that conveys the world. Its subtle and homeopathically powerful as a result.

Now this. Its another step forward in that the connection between elements involves changes in the way the world works. Each shift is not just between story segments that don't make sense, they don't make sense BECAUSE of the nature of the transitions. Many of these transitions involve a change in the laws of the universe. Its as if you were playing chess as a chesspiece, and the rules of the game changed according to the patterns of the pieces on the board. The whole thing would make sense afterward when seem as a whole, but the chessmen will be baffled.

What this does is build an ordinary noir with the two worlds: story, and gods. But it cleverly puts the viewer on the chessboard as someone at the mercy of the rules. Its no accident that the inspiration is Philip K Dick (who invented this sort of reverse introspection), that the key magical plot device is the magically named "fluid karma," and that the mascot is Bai Ling, who was our Béatrice Dalle surrogate for a while.

I want to give this a four, but I do think that the two others from this year are more important.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

not brilliant, but interesting

[murfit · 7/10 · 24 December 2008]

This movie doesn't really work, which is a pity, because it involves a lot of interesting ideas, put together in quite an eccentric and idiosyncratic way. Richard Kelly seems to pursue in his movies his private obsessions, which surely can go deeply wrong, but which nonetheless is the presupposition of anything interesting happening at all.

Some people have written that this film has nothing in common with "Donnie Darko": that's clearly wrong. At the center of both movies is the idea of meeting oneself as something threatening the foundations of reality, and how it has to be either avoided at the cost of personal sacrifice (Donnie Darko) or triggers the apocalyptic end of the world (Southland Tales). Of course, while "Donnie Darko" is the dark, introverted private tragedy of its main character, "Southland Tales" is set on a much larger scale, including many persons and society at large.

Richard Kelly is surely talented and has a weird sense of humor. (I loved the character of Krysta Now, the poet-porn star advocating "teen horniness" who "doesn't do anal" because it fosters violence in the world.) However, he still needs to work on his writing and directing abilities to achieve something truly great in the future.

One recommendation: Read the graphic novel too, preferably at first -- it's not a "prequel" in the strict sense, but the first part of the story itself, and it adds an additional layer to it by exposing the contents of Santaros' and Now's movie script "The Power".

What would you do if you had 17 million dollars to play around with...

[yurdakul-peksen · 3/10 · 13 April 2020]

...after you have landed an indie hit? If you had a gazillion of incoherent opinions about the world and your homeland? If you are mad, confused and overwhelmed about/by the politics and the society? If you have watched too many movies and wanted to integrate your influences all over the place at any sacrifice? If you wanna sell your -in the core- interesting, exciting, weird but overall half-baked ideas that were maybe influenced by some bizarre dreams you had or just popped into your mind after you had too much LSD? Well, you might go and shoot something like Southland Tales. Of course everyone has his own opinion and no one should judge artistic devices and expression since it's entirely subjective and there are no rules to it. So arguing over tastes and opinions is really senseless. But having read many reviews mentioning "real genius" and "a masterpiece", I would like to respectfully disagree. To me it felt like a missed shot at achieving something big, something which was supposed to be an avant-garde and unprecedented work so it would become a cult movie. And when it got horribly out of control, all you can do is trying to patch the whole thing up and sell it so that the intented result was exactly this: "a profound sci-fi satire, an artistic mindfuck".

Too many wildy combinated ingredients doesn't make the soup taste any better. Intention and execution are really two different pairs of shoes.

Not as bad as you've heard... never would have done well

[mgoldsmith · 8/10 · 12 May 2008]

This movie, maybe more than any other I've seen, is a commitment. If you think that 144 minutes is a lot to commit to a movie, the running time is only the tip of the iceberg.

In the DVD cut of the movie, a lot of things are obscured: what the big picture is, why characters are motivated to do certain things, why multiple identities are a recurring theme, why certain characters/actions are necessary.

What is in the DVD cut is an extensively detailed alternate world. Unfortunately, to make the actions in that alternate world make sense, you basically have to either watch the movie multiple times, or at least know what you're dealing with.

There are at least 4 layers to everything that's going on: 1) political/social commentary on contemporary American society and the apocalyptic undercurrent therein; 2) sarcastic/caustic pop culture references (Philip K. Dick is a big one, but also subtle things... for instance, the Rock was Sean William Scott's protector in "The Rundown" and plays a similar role here); 3) a self-consciousness or self-referentialism: actors cast against type, some similar themes to Donnie Darko, actions that play out in the film are largely based off of the AWFUL screenplay written by one of the characters (as seen in the graphic novel prequels); 4) the actual plot of the movie, which has deep ties to the Book of Revelation, and makes much more sense if the graphic novels are read first.

These layers are pretty consummately intertwined. This is part of what makes this movie to be compelling enough to make me want to put in the necessary effort. Its imagery was provocative, and because Richard Kelly has created such a densely layered world for himself, putting in the time actually is incredibly rewarding.

It should also be said that this film, like Blade Runner or There Will Be Blood, does not let its plot set specifications on its scope, or what it's about. If you hone in on what the director thinks its scope/purpose is, it's much easier to appreciate.

I'm not sure exactly how to rate this movie, since as a stand alone movie it is a failure, but if you take the time to get inside Kelly's mind, it's worthwhile. So. My advice? View it as an investment or don't view it at all. Don't throw it on for an evening's entertainment. If you do, you might be entertained, but you'll probably be confused and angry.

a modern dystopia

[giantbunny24 · 7/10 · 29 June 2009]

Southland Tales is not a futuristic apocalypse. In fact, it takes place in the past: 2008. It is a cautionary tale of what could very possibly happen in our country. At first i was skeptical about this movie as it stars many celebrities that I usually dislike, but the players played their roles adequately and I was able to suspend my disbelief and enjoy being entertained. Southland Tales is also an action film, which is a genre that I don't usually enjoy. The only reason I saw this film was because Richard Kelley directed it and I enjoyed Donnie Darko (especially the director's cut). All in all, this film was entertaining, but not great. It definitely beats Transformers and movies like that that have been coming out in the last year or so. However, it's no Donnie Darko and if you're coming into it looking for a film of Darko caliber you'll be disappointed.

A Spectacular Waste of 2 hours and Change

[screenwriterb · 1/10 · 14 March 2008]

I was attracted to this film because I was a fan of Donnie Darko, as well as the ensemble cast that came together for this project. It is with great sadness that I must declare this one of the worst films I've ever seen. I don't usually post comments about movies that fall short of their expectations, because film is a difficult art form. However, I found myself getting angry with how complex the story was as they say genius is making the complex, simple. That being said, I will applaud the effort to make a 'modern day' revelations biblical story. However, if Seann William Scott is or messiah, then it would truly be the end of the world. This movie did not work on so many levels, so I won't go into detail, but I will say that I felt robbed of 144 minutes. Perhaps this will have a cult following like Donnie Darko, and perhaps I could appreciate this project more by looking at the graphic novel, website and other source material, but after experiencing Southland Tales the film, I feel time is too precious for that. The last thing I will comment on about this film is the wonderful.... ---Insert something appreciative about this film--

Even better in today's political climate

[headshot27 · 10/10 · 17 November 2018]

This movie is an underrated masterpiece that gets better at every reviewing. Yes, the performances are indeed pretty awful, but perfect for the film's purpose. True, the plot is almost impossible to follow, but this has a specific purpose too, and adds to the comedy of the whole experience. And finally, yes, the political message is garbled and insincere, but that is what makes Southland Tales a postmodern triumph. This movie flies in the face of "rational" political discussion, a concept which is more fantastical than the apocalyptic setting of the film itself. Our current political climate is basically reality television, a fact Southland Tales predicted and then exposed through its near-incomprehensible bombarding of information and commercialised images. Anyone who rejects this film is simply in denial.

well made but too messy and weird

[krzysiektom · 7/10 · 26 January 2010]

The film has a tough script to crack but if one watches a short commentary by Kelly and others that is part of extra features on the DVD it all makes much more sense. In short they attacked post-9/11 measures on security, lack of quality in politicians, the war in Iraq and all the extreme political movements, be it ultra-right conservatism or liberals and Marxism. All that washed in a sci-fi soup that revolves around Kelly's obvious fascination: time warps, the 4th dimension and black holes. It is one of the basic principles of the quantum physics that when a particle collides with its exact anti-particle the world around will collapse. The problem I have with Kelly is that he touches such weighty philosophical themes but does not go deeper, it seems very superficial, we do not know why, do not know how and what for. Why is the Taverner character supposed to be a "messiah"?? Why at the end of the scenes in the mega zeppelin, when Dwayne spreads his arms out as if being crucified, there is a red print of Jesus appearing on the back of his shirt?? What happens in the skies - there is a 3 second shot of something major happening there, but what?? Why Taverner's hands beam light?? What is the meaning of the scenes on the beach, when the crazy fan demands that the hero allow her perform a sexual act on her?? Who is the character played by Christopher Lambert?? In short: WTF, Kelly??? Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed at least 3 scenes in this film, excellently written, directed and shot, all 3 the "musical" ones: when Timberlake sings I've got soul but i'm not a soldier, with a superb dance routine, that amazing long long shot inside the mega zeppelin with the amazing song, and then the best ever rendering of the US national anthem. I watched the 3 scenes several times and they are awesome. But the rest?.. Hmm. I give it an additional point for ambition and strangeness in a good way, because too many films are formulaic and simplistic these days. I deduct a point for Kelly trying to bite off more he can chew.

Ed Wood Lives!!!

[russofdenver · 1/10 · 8 May 2008]

Ever wonder what WOOD happen if Ed Wood was given the task of directing a movie about the apocalypse AND he had to direct it as though he had the multiple directing personalities of David Fincher (fight club) and David Lynch? Well, no, most people don't wonder that. But that is what watching Southland Tales is like. In fact, it's as hard to watch as it is to turn away, simply because I could not imagine what was going through director Richard Kelly's mind when he wrote and directed this bizarre and awfully acted and executed, uh, movie? In horror movies you keep watching so you can scream, "don't go in the closet!", in this movie I kept watching so I could chuckle, "what the hell???"

When I watched it I was reminded of other movies like "Salton Sea" and "Death Sentence". That is, big budget Hollywood movies that think they've figured out the current formula that has made some indie movies into cult classics and directors like Quentin Tarantino and his fan boy posse of directors in cult classic icons. The most obvious ingredient of the formula? Cameos and odd roles for obscure or larger than life or forgotten actors. For an elaborate example; Justin Timberlake plays an Iraq war veteran who was also a victim of friendly fire, he owns an arcade called "friendly fire", he's a 50 cal. machine gunner who watches over Venice beach California, oh yea, he is also the entire movie's narrator who recites versus of the book of revelations and other clues about the movie's plot (which don't help in the confusion). Furthermore, the Highlander series' Christopher Lambert plays death that comes riding on a pale horse, and in this case, the pale horse he rides is a white ice cream truck from which he sells high powered arms. Let's see, Mandy Moore and John Larroquette play puppets of the anti-Christ who is played by Wallace Shawn (you'd know him if you saw him). Michelle Buffy Geller plays the modern day renascence porn-star and awkwardly socially conscious reality TV show host, while her counterpart is played by "The Rock"- who is at the center of the events that lead up to the end days. More actors include the cast of Mad TV as the antagonists, only a brief cameo by SNL TV's Janeane Garofalo (whose character is in the movie for 2 seconds, but given a character name), the lady who once said, "This House is Clean", in the movie Poltergeist the guy who played "Booger" in "Revenge of the Nerds", and many many more.

The Plot? I dunno? I thought it was stupid and overly complex- it tried to be clever and ended up being (for an honest lack of a better description) retarded. The main plot is about how The Rock (who plays an actor in the movie) and the Porn-Star write a script together about how the world ends. And like in the movie "The Pelican Brief" and "Stranger than Fiction" the script IS actually a prophetic document of how the world ends and how the characters react in the movie. And as the characters describe what their script is about, things in the script are actually unfolding in the so-called reality of this movie. Meanwhile, there are subplots within this movie that are intertwined or supposedly suppose to meet the main plot at a crossroads- no doubt at was to be the climax of the movie. However, it all gets confusing and becomes nothing more than a bunch of non-sense and senselessness when each story begins to arrive together. You will say a lot, "I don't get it", "That makes no sense", or "how did that happen, when that other thing happened before", while watching this movie.

However, it's is such a magical train wreck of story writing, character building and acting- The Rock seems possessed by the acting abilities of William Shatner while the rest of the cast seems uncomfortable with the dialog and how to animate themselves during their lines- that the movie becomes really really entertaining. The sudden and bizarre breakdown into a musical staring Justin Timberlake really grinds in the absurdness of the film. The poor choice in CG (Computer Graphic) fonts for chapter titles and the poor timing and choice of popular indie songs laminate over the glossiness of what was probably suppose to be a big box office grosser. Richard Kelly has already succeeded as an indie cult film director with Donnie Darko, but I think Southland Tales- by accident rather than intelligent design- will be considered his masterpiece... and one of those movies kids of future generations will go see at the weekend midnight movie and laugh and laugh.