SOUTHLAND TALES
Hey folks. Capone in Chicago here.
I'm finding it curious in the reviews I've read so far for Richard Kelly's long-delayed but well-worth-the-wait second feature that so many people feel the need to take a defensive tone when discussing the film. It's as if they know in their hearts the film will be attacked or at least not be understood or embraced by the average moviegoer. This is probably true. For all the enigmatic charm of Kelly's first work, DONNIE DARKO, SOUTHLAND TALES is even more dense and worthy of analysis. The film's more perplexing elements are not just found in the screenplay, but also in places like casting, sound design, tone and special effects. Some of Kelly's more baffling decisions make up part of the reason I admire the film so much, but, I'll admit, sometimes I was confused and occasionally frustrated. These moments don't last long, and by having so many different storylines going at once, Kelly doesn't give us much time to dwell on the weaker threads of SOUTHLAND TALES. What he has accomplished with this work is one of the most complete and dizzying visions of the near future ever realized. And maybe part of the reason I was sometimes puzzled by what I was watching was that Kelly's vision of the future moves at a head-spinning pace and is populated by men and women who act and react as fast as they can think.
To attempt to boil down the plots of SOUTHLAND TALES would be pointless. A huge part of the fun is the discovery. What I will tell you (and if you want more detail, I'm sure there are a half-dozen other reviews online just dying to spill all of the film's secrets) is that the setting is Los Angeles in 2008. The world is just a little too late getting on its environmental kick; the economy is a mess; and the threat level pretty much stays in the red (usually for good reason). But much like today, the public is distracted by non-events: a porn star (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is poised to be the biggest reality star on television; a Schwarzenegger-like action star (Dwayne Johnson) has gone missing and suffers from amnesia; and a vast conspiracy against the tyrannical government is about to come to a head thanks to a mad scientist (Wallace Shawn) and a fractured police officer (Seann William Scott). Kelly has populated his film with familiar faces in nearly every role. A gaggle of comedic actors (such as Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Nora Dunn and Jon Lovitz) are cast in fairly serious roles. And, if you turn your head a little to the right or left, you might see Bai Ling (quite good here, as one of Shawn's minions) or Mandy Moore or Miranda Richardson or John Laroquette. You get my drift.
Rather than attempt to dissect every piece of Kelly's expansive universe as you're watching SOUTHLAND TALES for the first time, it's probably best to sit back and take it all in and pick it apart later with others. I would never be so bold as to suggest that you see this film more than once, but the film almost doesn't give you a choice. There's a lot to absorb here. Despite the fact that the film is dealing with the potential for an apocalypse, Kelly doesn't inject his film with gloom and doom. There's a tremendous amount of energy and humor in this movie. Johnson (better known as The Rock) is by far my favorite performer in the film. He's never been tested as an actor the way he is here. He infuses his Boxer Santaros character with a desperate and vulnerable edge. Suffering from a bit of brain damage, Santaros is loaded with odd ticks and behaviors that make you take pity on the man. Gellar is good here, but I never truly got the porn star vibe from her. What she does succeed in conveying is that ugly glow of opportunism and publicity-seeking banality that most porn stars (or Paris Hilton) seem to revel in. Scott…well the one-time Stifler is in unchartered waters here. He scared me a little, and his character's secrets are the most devastating. Oh, he's good.
But I think my all-around favorite performer has to be (wait for it) Justin Timberlake (who also serves as the film's narrator) as a disfigured ex-military man who figures into Scott's storyline. He has a little musical number that must be seen by all. The film does have its weak moments, too. Kelly's stunt casting with his smaller roles is distracting and sometimes derails any potential dramatic momentum. Granted, it's easier to keep track of who's doing what to whom when most of the speaking roles are occupied by familiar faces, but trying to figure out if that was indeed Eli Roth sitting dead on the crapper or whether that really is Kevin Smith buried under all that old-man makeup can get old when I'm trying to focus on plot.
The thing I admire about Kelly's works the most is that he steadfastly refuses to exist in a conventional place in the film world. Taking on this epic story (which lasts about two-and-a-half hours) in only his second film is either impressive or foolish or both. Every ounce of his ambition is on the screen, even when hints of self-indulgence creep in. SOUTHLAND TALES is oftentimes a messy affair, but there's a sincere part of me that wishes more filmmakers were capable or brave enough to make, or even attempt to make, a film this messy. The greatest compliment I think I could give Kelly at this point is to say I eagerly await a chance to see it again, and I can't wait to see what he dreams up next and where his next film, THE BOX, takes us.
Capone
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