Donnie Darko writer/director Richard Kelly’s second film, the epic Southland Tales, feels like a stoner movie made by someone who has never touched the stuff. But I like it. No, fuck that, I love it. Southland Tales is the rare film that plays by it’s own rules at every turn. It does so by featuring a hugely ambitious script and boasting one of the most unlikely casts a major art film has ever seen (think PT Anderson’s Magnolia, had the actors been selected by the guy who cast American Pie).
Also, this is a movie that frustrated the hell out of a whole lot of money-loving studio jerk-offs. Yeah, I like that. I like that a lot.
If you’ve not seen Kelly’s second film, well, it’s almost impossible to describe. One thing I’ve not seen anyone mention is how perfectly entertaining the film is at every confusing turn. It’s almost as if David Lynch tried to adapt a Robert Altman script while challenging himself to direct a cast full of underrated talents – all out to prove something. And maybe Judd Apatow worked as producer, offering his almost-commercial sheen. There’s music numbers, visual effects, bombs, porn, guns, blood, political corruption – you name it. And it all takes place not just in the future, but in an alternate reality.
Before the movie was completed Kelly sent an early edit to the folks who select the movies for the Cannes Film Festival – the most prestigious festival in the world. They loved the movie and asked the auteur if he would consider submitting it for Palme d’Or consideration (the biggest award you can win, Oscar be damned). Believing in his own work, Kelly jumped at the opportunity, deciding to submit the unfinished film. What happened next probably did not surprise Kelly as much as the press says it did … everyone laughed. They hated the movie. HATED the movie. After his experiences with Darko, Kelly couldn’t have been too surprised (though he was, he himself has said, disappointed by just how much hatred Southland received).
The unfinished movie played at a couple of festivals, saw some buzz and then, eventually, sold to a distributor. Then it sold a second time. All this before ever being released to the public. All this before Kelly could properly finish his epic. The director and his production team eventually scored enough funding to finish the movie properly. The director then submitted the film to his studio, who promptly asked him to shorten the movie and, in general, make it more accessible. So he did. A few times. The movie – featuring a huge number of name actors, such as Sean William Scott, Justin Timberlake, The Rock, Mandy Moore, Kid Rock’s Sister, Amy Poehler, the lovely Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kevin Smith and many others – eventually opened in 63 U.S. theaters.
So, yes, it bombed. Big time. The DVD did better, but, in general, the film was something of a laughing stock.
Now, a few years later, Southland Tales has taken on a very well deserved – though minor – cult status. If you watch this confusing and unique movie without any expectations, it’s quite enjoyable. The film explores a number of interesting themes, including the idiocy of celebrity status in the U.S., the corruption of government, the need for alternative fuel sources, terrorism, incredible visuals, Kevin Smith in a big white beard, reality television elements and, mostly, “the end times.” It all weaves together in a complex, abstract patchwork manner. Had the movie not been made in such a modern Hollywood fashion, I get the feeling the overall abstractness of the project would’ve been received much differently. Or what if Kelly had used a more proven cast or a more explanatory usage of narration? What could have been.
What we end up with is one of the most ambitious Hollywood films of recent times, made possible directly by the status Kelly achieved as a direct result of Donnie Darko’s belated and ongoing success. Will this sci-fi dark comedy epic see widespread cult status someday? Will it feel more relevant with time, due to the themes? Will someone someday look back on this production and see it as fodder for a book – or at least a chapter – about the flaws of the Hollywood Machine?
Who cares. For every major problem here (be it a structure thing or the many completely out-of-place story elements that add to the confusion due to the re-edits) there’s something to love. There’s style and humor and fun and confusion. There’s a summertime vibe that adds levity to Timberlake’s oddly serious narration parts. There’s well, too much to mention in a one-page review. It all works together in a unique way that somehow ends up feeling like a kindred spirit to Altman’s Nashville and Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
Sure, those are masterful movies made by genius directors; but Southland Tales is also made by a genius. A flawed genius who makes incredibly fun messes stuffed to the brim with ideas. If Kelly were to love movies less, he’d make boring movies. So, in a way, his biggest fault is also the reason his work is so interesting.
Think this review is confusing? Wait until you see the film …
90/100
