 Southland Tales
MPAA Rating:
 for language, violence, sexual material and some drug contentReview coming from Contributor: Craig Gleason _____
Moviemaking Quality:
_____
Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Science Fiction, Thriller, Comedy, Drama, Musical
Length:
2 hr. 24 min.
Year of Release:
2007
USA Release:
November 14, 2007 (NY, LA - limited: Nov. 16); DVD: March 18, 2008
“This is the way the world ends.” Producer’s Synopsis: “Richard Kelly's long awaited follow-up to ‘Donnie Darko’ (2001) / ‘Southland Tales’ is an ensemble piece set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Johnson will star as Boxer Santaros, an action star stricken with amnesia whose life intertwines with Krysta Now (Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and David Clark (Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.”
Volunteer reviewer needed for this movie—Request this assignment   Movie Critics
“…feels like a nightmare pumped with laughing gas and dunked in formaldehyde. …‘Southland Tales’ is war-torn, diseased, pathologically unfocused, maybe schizophrenic, fanatical, cynical, depressed, exhausting, and bloated with no end in sight.…” “…Irksomely self-important, deliberately cryptic and cluttered, Southland Tales may strain the patience even of the cult crowd that embraced Kelly's first film, Donnie Darko, a cinematic riddle that looks positively mainstream next to this fiasco.…” “…‘Southland Tales’ takes reality as far into absurdity as it will go without ever crossing the line into comedy. …You get the sense that Kelly is too angry to really find any of it funny. It's easy to empathize with his position, not so easy to remain engrossed in a film that's occasionally inspired but ultimately manic and scattered.…” “…Dizzyingly incoherent and subversively surreal, this sophomore effort from the man who made the great, strange ‘Donnie Darko’ is certain to have its fans. I'm not going to be one of them.…” Positive
Positive - I had to watch this film three times in order to take it all in, and also to fully appreciate it for what it was. It is a mess of a film, but it is very interesting. It's Kelly's social commentary of the world that we live in today. Yes, there is a lot to take in here, but if you give it a chance and keep an open mind, there is a lot to appreciate here. The performances take some getting used to, but they are fine for what they are. I recommend it! |
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