Overly abstract, even pretentious misfire (Southland Tales (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Southland Tales (DVD)
Date:	01/09/09 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well acted and some great visuals

Disadvantages: Too bombastic and OTT for its own good

note: also appears on The Student Room and Flixster

After the meteoric cult success of his film Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly became a household name in Hollywood almost instantly, giving him enough clout to get the funds and means together to make a 2.5-hour, star-studded epic named Southland Tales. It didn't fare too well in its original 160-minute screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, but was re-edited and released to slightly more favourable acclaim. Needless to say, this is a mess of a film, but it's by no means terrible - it's got solid performances, some great visuals, but sadly can't find its feet despite some interesting ideas.

The film is set in the Southland - Southern California and Greater Los Angeles - in one potential future, where it has been taken over by military-industrialists, and the media has transformed into a giant revenue beast. This is the backdrop for another film borrowing the "x number of lives intertwine" premise that has been done to death, with amnesiac action star Boxer Santoros (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), ex-porn star Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and twin brothers Roland and Ronald Taverner (Seann William Scott...twice) all crossing paths on one fateful night as the July 4th festivities kick off.

Sadly, whilst it probably looked great on the page, the film is simply too abstract to resonate - Donnie Darko shared this criticism to an extent, but it was still accessible on a more basal level that it didn't really matter, whereas Southland Tales is just incongruent and incomprehensible for most of its running time. It's a shame the thematic material isn't more up to scratch, because the film gets arguably the best performances yet out of Johnson and Scott, even if few involved could really tell you quite what the film is actually about!

Whilst visually astute and fairly well-acted, Southland Tales falters as its second half becomes more and more preposterous and convoluted, to the point where it's difficult to care.

Summary: Try and make sense of this film - I dare you!