Southland Tales
Richard Kelly won fans with his slice of moody postmodern angst, Donnie Darko. Now the long-delayed, much-maligned Southland Tales finally arrives, and brings with it this question:
Uh, what the fuck?
Southland Tales is a sprawling, semi-satirical apocalypse flick, populated by visionary porn stars, amnesiac celebrities, giant dirigibles, and other Warhol wet dreams. Kelly obviously has an audacious vision, but wants to squeeze so much in that characters spend their screen-time just explaining stuff to each other. (With a nod to George Lucas, it begins with Part 4; if you want backstory, you can read comic books versions of Parts 1 - 3.)
It strives for Philip K. Dickian oddness, but often seems like still-a-first-draft oddness instead. Embedded at random intervals, though, are some jaw-dropping scenes: Justin Timberlake as a scarred Iraq veteran hallucinating wildly while singing a Killer's refrain - "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" - is strangely moving.
Is Southland Tales a failure? Well, it's a fascinatingly pyrotechnic one, and you have to admire it for that.
Format: DVD
Mood: Make a therapy appointment now
Keywords: Richard Kelly, Universal
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