Southland Tales

I watched Southland Tales last night. I'd read very mixed reviews about it, from people who absolutely loathed it to people who loved it. All of the reviews seemed to agree though: it was a very strange film. And indeed it was.

However, I'm in the "I dig it" camp. Why? Because oddly enough, it is very similar in style, story, and tone to a story that's been rolling around in my head for the last three plus years. It's not identical, mind you, but it's the closest thing to my "Irrationalities of a Delusional State" that I've seen on film thus far. If anything, I picture IDS like Southland Tales but with the weirdness dialed back from a 10 to maybe an 8.

What else did I like about the movie? Dwayne Johnson, aka the Rock, is almost always fun to watch (I hated Doom). Seann William Scott gave what I believe to be the best performance I've ever seen out of this guy. Justin Timberlake (dig the guy as an actor, not a fan as a musician). Dion Harris and Amy Poehler as neo-Marxist poets playing a married couple arguing. Christopher Lambert. And Cheri Oteri as a villain.

What didn't I like? Well, I thought the weirdness was cranked up just a bit too high as to become distracting. I think there's a certain amount of room for oddity in storytelling, but when it gets to the point that you verge on losing your audience, it becomes self-defeating. Case-in-point: there's a scene that has Timberlake's character shooting up with a drug and it breaks into a song and dance number. I could see how that would be alienating to some people. It nearly was to me, but only in the sense that I couldn't figure out why they would have Timberlake lip-syncing to the Killers "All the Thing that I've Done," since he's primarily known as a singer. Still, it was a well done moment in the film, I thought, even if it possible took the moment just a bit too far into "What the hell?!" territory.

Overall, Southland Tales is a puzzle. It deals with a lot of theoretical physics, some theology, and isn't a movie that you can simply breeze through with your brain set to coast. It takes a lot of the elements that director Richard Kelly played with in his previous flick, Donnie Darko, and twists them into something completely different to be played out by a large ensemble cast. I definitely recommend it for it's trippy, near-pop nature but only do so knowing that a majority of viewers just won't get it and write that off as distaste for the movie. I'm not sure that I get it either, but that's not enough for me to dislike it. If anything, the fact that it leaves me scratching my head slightly and trying to solve its many pieces only endears it more to me.