Southland Tales
If ambition and scope were the sole criteria for what makes a great movie, then this 2006 release would undoubtedly make most criticsâ lists for being amongst the top 10 best of all time. As it is, one must corral all that mighty potential into resembling something more coherent and understandable, but that is the usual modus operandi for one director Richard Kelly, a guy who sent shockwaves through the cinematic community with his Donnie Darko, a movie that worked in many ways for what it did NOT tell us specifically as to just what was going on with its story. Kelly is long known as being a disciple of David Lynch, and Lynchâs influence was all over that smaller, more intimate tale as it is over this one, albeit Lynch had never attempted anything even remotely cinematically at this vast scale (with the possible exception of Dune) nor with this kind of cast, toplined by Dwayne Johnson (as an action movie star), Seann William Scott (as a tormented police officer) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (as a porno star) with a mishmash of a supporting cast that includes several former Saturday Night Live cast members and all of it being anchored by Justin Timberlake in the role of Narrator. Anyone familiar with Darko will remember its metaphysical presentation of the end of the world and this actually is no exception, continuing those themes but on a much, much larger playing field as the film opens with a nuclear bomb going off (captured on a childâs cell phone) in 2005 within the parameters of Abilene, Texas. Who blew the bomb? Well, that part doesnât really matter since this is not a story about the hunt for the terrorists but rather the aftermath and its effect on American society as solemnly described by Timberlake from his sentry post over Venice Beach where he spends most of his time reading the Bible. Weâre shown the draft being reinstated, Republicans shooting back into power in almost every election and a new world war breaking loose mostly in the oil producing regions of the world leading to an energy crisis plus an upcoming 2008 Presidential election where (Hillary) Clinton and (Joe) Lieberman are running against two fictional candidates from the Republican Party (since obviously nobody had heard of Obama yet). On top of all that, there is now a dangerous underground movement of openly Marxist far left liberal types trying to upend the whole system as it is. On this note, the film thankfully does not come crashing down on either side of the political spectrum, portraying both ends with equal contempt in terms of both ruthlessness and incompetence. Into this we meet Johnson, having woken up in the hands of Gellarâs porn star with loftier ambitions (i.e. mainstream acceptance) and it would seem, a screenplay co written by the two of them that amazingly parallels and foreshadows the events taking place in the real world. Are they prophets? The movie itself doesnât seem too sure. Scott is first seen suffering from hallucinations and worse, finds himself in the hands of The Marxists (consisting of militant women and beta males and headquartered in Venice Beach) who are using some leverage on him to compromise himself and do their bidding which involves an elaborate setup on their part. Meanwhile, other factors are in play here: a new energy source harnessing the never ending waves of the ocean has been invented by a European Baron (Wallace Shawn) which has him presenting himself to the people of California as their new savior even while he cozies up to the Republican elite (no prizes awarded for guessing how that turns out); there is also a new wonder drug on the market tested tried and true on American soldiers (including Timberlake) that somehow not only enhances their cognitive abilities in the field (including telepathic ability) but also expands their consciousness enough to where they literally know and hear everything (including Godâs will), a stark contrast to the elaborate surveillance system put in place where office drones watch everything (including bathrooms) while being overseen by a supervisor (Miranda Richardson in full gargoyle mode) who never leaves her post but also never does anything of any consequence to the plot; and Johnson himself also happens to have a wife (Mandy Moore) who is the spoiled brat daughter of the GOP VP candidate (Holmes Osbourne) and who has yet to find out that her hubby has been dallying with a porn star. All of this is supposed to be adding up to some kind of vast conspiracy or another, but Kelly as a writer and director doesnât seem interested in connecting the dots for us, trying to go completely abstract to the point where he literally released a series of graphic novels that take place BEFORE the events of the film itself, expecting the viewer to purchase and read them so that we may find out at least some of the backstory, but suffice to say that (unlike Darko where much of the vagueness worked) here there is just too much already going on so having to depend on graphic novels to figure it all out is just asking too much. It can be said that the film does eventually go the Darko route and introduces us to another interdimensional portal where the human race (who has never and will never recover from the nuclear attack at the beginning of the film which is a valid theory many have about such a real life occurrence taking place) must once again go through so that we may have a fresh start in a new and better world (keeping in mind that certain types are NOT welcome to this gateway and must be eliminated first). There are bits and pieces here of absolutely elegant beauty where the big budget Lynch style surrealism bares its claws in some grand style, but keeping everything together on a coherent scale is where it falls flat on Kellyâs part (at least Lynch could keep his basic storylines linear) but such questions like who it is that Gellar is keeping her loyalties to and just how deep The Marxists have infiltrated the government security infrastructure, not to mention whoâs really working for who at any given time (the mega rich and creepy Shawn character appears to have the market cornered at having people sell out and thus should be considered the main villain here even employing Bai Ling as his evil Asian henchwoman ten years after she was serving the same purpose in The Crow) never go completely answered to oneâs full satisfaction. It is fun watching the various cast members emerge out of the woodwork here including the SNL alumni like Jon Lovitz, Nora Dunn, Cheri Oteri and Amy Poehler (with Lovitz nearly stealing the movie singlehandedly) and the other various odds and ends on hand including John Larroquette, Kevin Smith, Curtis âBoogerâ Armstrong and even Zelda Rubinstein from the Poltergeist movies! But since Kelly obviously endeavored to get himself his dream cast here (or close to it), he should have also slackened the pace and allowed this ensemble a chance to breathe a little bit more instead of shooting from one scene and / or plot twist (usually involving loyalties being switched up) to another at such a rapid rate. At least Timberlake with his enigmatic narrator (who seems to know things that he shouldnât) does a good job of making us enjoy wondering where he stands and why (hint: he is or was best friends with one of the main characters) and Kellyâs obvious influences are apparent and enjoyable (the ending is almost a straight lift from Repo Man), so while there are some colorful metaphors and mysteries in here (a lot of this is still relevant today), expecting the average viewer to be able to keep up even while paying close attention is sadly a lot to askâŠ
7/10