Laying the Smack Down With a Side of Cheese

Well folks, it’s been awhile. This is what happens when you actually have work to do, other things suffer. In this case my taste in films has suffered. I loved Donnie Darko so it only makes sense that I would want to see Richard Kelly’s next film. Southland Tales is a film about, uh, well you see here is where I have a problem. At times I’m not sure what this film is about.

The story revolves around an amnesiac boxer, Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), and his involvment with the government and a sexy hooker, Krysta Now (Sarah Michell Gellar). Sounds good so far doesn’t it? Then we are presented with the rebel who are trying to bring the government down, Justin Timberlake doing a voice-over narrative and a few drugs, a strange interconnected side story in which Sean William Scott tries to be serious, and then a hug explosion. Oh did I forget to mention it’s set in the future. Now normally this mish mash of components could prove interesting (see my Survive Style 5+ review), but in this film it takes away from what could have been a fun and campy sci-fi flick.

The entire film had the feel of a film that didn’t know what it wanted to be. Take for instance the story of Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott). He is an ex-military officer who is being used by the Marxist underground, until he realizes he needs to find his brother. Along the way, we are given details about some incident he was involved in with Private Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake). Compared to the rest of the film, this storyline is serious and lacks cheesy acting (note that this does not mean bad acting). I have a real problem with perhaps the cheesiest actor in the film being serious, which led to me completly hating this aspect of the film. On the flip side, the cheesy over-the-top acting of Gellar and The Rock fit perfectly with the futuristic wacky story of the rest of the film. They were incredible. In fact, almost every other acting performance fit so well with the futuristic vibe. Timberlake proved to me that singing is just something he does, while acting is something he works on. He needs to be in more films like this. The Rock is also superb in his portrayel of a shellschocked amnesiac. His little twitching and confused looks made me giggle like a little school girl. Gellar plays the innocent hooker with big dreams perfectly, even to the point of a crazy dance menage-a-trois with Johnson and his wife, Madeline Frost Santaros (Mandy Moore). Yes, Mandy Moore is in the film as well. And yes she looks good and acts well. I was even surprised to see Wallace Shawn put in a great performance (for those of you that don’t know, find a film he’s in where he keeps saying “inconceivable”). Aside from Scott, the acting is great and surprising.

But no amount of good acting can save the film from it’s own devices. It’s long and it drags on, no matter how interesting the plot is. The premise is interesting, but the pieces never really fit together. Even with these problems, I’m not sure I count this film as a failure. I see it more as an experiment that Kelly can build on later. He has proven that he can provide a film along the lines of Brazil, but just needs to not try so hard to be an out there director. His cast easily could give him a great film, if he would just let them exist rather than force their existence. Take for instance the lip-synching scene with Timberlake having a go at The Killers’ “All These Things that I’ve Done.” He has the components including great visuals and a unique ability to weave a story, he just has to step back a bit from the loom.

Overall, Southland Tales could easily have been brilliant like Donnie Darko, but Kelly just couldn’t stop tinkering. It’s a film that lacks a solid identity. I still think it’s worth watching just for the acting, especially The Rock, Timberlake, and Gellar. Now if Kelly would just not try so hard to be an out there “I make strange films” director, I think he has a chance at being a great out there “I make strange films” director.