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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Curtis Armstrong, Joe Campana ... see more see more... , Nora Dunn , Michele Durrett , Beth Grant , Wood Harris , John Larroquette , Ling Bai , Jon Lovitz , Mandy Moore , Holmes Osborne , Cheri Oteri , Amy Poehler , Lou Taylor Pucci , Miranda Richardson , Jill Ritchie , Zelda Rubinstein , Will Sasso , Wallace Shawn , Sab Shimono , Kevin Smith , Justin Timberlake , Lisa K. Wyatt , Christopher Lambert

California is at the epicenter of a political and environmental disaster that threatens to destroy the world in this ambitious fusion of comedy, drama, dystopian science fiction, and music from writer... read more read more... and director Richard Kelly, his first film after gaining a cult following with Donnie Darko. In the year 2005, a nuclear attack wipes out part of the state of Texas, and three years later America is a virtual police state, with the government taking control of nearly every part of people's lives, supposedly for their own good. A German firm has found a way to generate energy using seawater, but both public and private concerns are desperate to prevent the new technology from being introduced in the gasoline-starved United States. A Marxist underground based on the West Coast is determined to bring down the federal government through violent revolution.In this midst of this chaos, we follow a number of stories that continually return to three principle characters. Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock) is an actor famous for his role in action films; he's trying to secure financing for a new project, but reality keeps mirroring the events in his script and he struggles to hold on to his identity following a bout with amnesia. Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a porn star who is reinventing herself as a television pundit offering her views on politics, contemporary culture, and teenage sex. And Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott) is an L.A. police officer whose identity has mysteriously split in two, and he struggles to track down his other half. Featuring a massive supporting cast which includes Mandy Moore, Miranda Richardson, Wallace Shawn, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Smith, Amy Poehler, and Justin Timberlake, Southland Tales received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival; director Kelly also created an accompanying series of three graphic novels that chart these events and characters prior to this story. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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42% liked it

25,696 ratings

Critics

35% liked it

93 critics

R, 2 hr. 24 min.

Directed by: Richard Kelly

Release Date: September 22, 2007

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DVD Release Date: March 18, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (6,112)

  • jmanard52
    May 6, 2008
    jmanard52
    This movie tried to say so much and i think in the end it brought the whole movie to a crashing halt. Good idea by a young director with a good future.
  • Deano78
    April 3, 2011
    Deano78
    A strange film set in the future with a confusing plot with deals with alternative energy, politics, world war 3 and the 4th dimension!! A bit long it has some good moments but a few lows as well. Overall just a bit odd.
  • cosmo313
    October 28, 2010
    cosmo313
    Ya gotta give credit to Richard Kelly. The man definitely has some interesting, unique, and different ideas, and he's definitely got an unmatched sense of creativity and wicked sense of style. His ambition is something to be praised. He makes some interesting movies, but unfortu... read morenately, accessibility is something he doesn't excel at. Donnie Darko was a challenge, but it didn't seem so bad trying to get a handle on things. This on the other hand, is probably understandable eventually, but it's too much to want to try to give it a chance and to figure out what the fuck is going on. Now, apparently this is supposed ot be an update or take on the the Book Of Revelation, as well as being filled with a ton of other references to things as varied a the works of Philip K. Dick, Marx, and a host of others. The problem is, this film is an incoherent, rambling, pretty pretentious, mess. If there is a narrative, it's not all that apparent. The look of things is cool, and, as I said, the ideas are interesting, but yeah, nothing makes sense. Following this movie is impossibl.. I am not sure if the casting is a bad thing or a good thing. I like a good number of the people in the cast, but I'm not sure if having most of the cast being the result of stunt is such a good idea. I will admit though, it was very entertaining, and amusing even if baffling and unbelievable to have Timberlake do a song and dance number. I should give this a lower grade, but I won't. Even with all my (valid) bitching about the many issues with the writing, there's some cool stuff going on here: the aforementioned song and dance number, the car commercial with copulating cars, and the fact that Kelly makes the films he wants, even if only he truly knows what the fuck is going on. My only hope is that in the future, Kelly keeps making these bold and brain exercising films, but that he learns how to make things a little esier on the average person. It wouldn't kill him to learn how to make things more coherent and accessible without losing the trippiness of things.
  • kenstachnik
    October 17, 2010
    kenstachnik
    Total Nonsense
  • stevenecarrier
    September 26, 2010
    stevenecarrier
    Sure, the film "Southland Tales" is flawed and can be incoherent without having read the prequel graphic novels, but with the film (and the graphic novels) Richard Kelly shows what our world, will, could and does look like. this is destined to be one of the top 5 misunderstood fi... read morelms of all time. it combines science-fiction, dark comedy, drama and a touch of musical and performance art to make a stinging satire on the United States, government, the war in Iraq, pop culture, religion and the environment. a tour de force in ever way.
  • romy861
    April 3, 2010
    romy861
    It has taken me two goes to actually sit through this one. I still could not claim to fully understand it, and it is full of pretty unlikeable characters, but the ride is fun if you can switch your brain off and accept that you're going to be confused!
    Good cast here too, includ... read moreing Sarah Michelle Gellar as an airheaded and tacky porn star, Mandy Moore and yes, bloody Justin Timberlake (although to be fair he is not too bad in this, and in fact did not recognise him right away).
    I still vastly prefer both Donnie Darko and The Box to this, but I'm glad I was able to sit through it finally and some of it does come together at the end, although still not entirely sure the pay off is worth the 2 and a half hours!
  • DrZeek
    June 27, 2009
    DrZeek
    Boxer Santaros: My character... he realizes that the apocalyptic crime rate is because of global deceleration. The rotation of the earth is slowing down at a rate of point zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero six miles per hour each day disrupting the chemical equilibrium in ... read morethe human brain causing very irrational criminal behavior.

    Director Richard Kelly follows up his insanely popular among cult audiences debut feature Donnie Darko, to bring audiences another ambitious project that is sure to find a cult audience as well.

    Initially panned hard at the Cannes Film Festival, and later among the majority of critics after it finally got a theatrical release, the movie is a large mess of characters and plot, some of which develops, the rest just drifts away. I walked away from this movie understanding what had happened in terms of the development of its story, but not really interested in what it meant or what the underlying themes were.

    Its still watchable however, not really terrible in any way, just too jumbled.

    The story surrounds a three day period set in Los Angeles in an alternate futuristic reality in the year 2008. A kidnapped Actor with political ties, Boxer Santoros played by Dwayne Johnson, finds himself with amnesia, currently hooking up with a porn star/reality TV host Krysta Now, Sarah Michelle Geller.

    Krysta Now: Join us for an in-depth discussion of the penetrating issues facing society today. Issues like abortion, terrorism, crime, poverty, social reform, quantum teleportation, teen horniness and war.

    They are involved with a extremist group that are using an ex cop and his twin brother, both Sean William Scott, to help sabotage the work of a political candidate.

    The world all of these characters live in is currently going through a number of energy and fuel crisis along with facing WWIII issues, and plenty of other issues that are set up.

    There is a lot going on, all of which is narrated by a character played by Justin Timberlake. The cast is one of the strangest assembled since Mars Attacks, featuring a number of random actors as well as former and current SNL stars.

    Announcer on PA: Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the way the world ends. Not with a whimper, but with a bang. But there is hope. In the end we can be reassured by one undeniable truth. Nobody rocks the cock like Krysta Now. And I mean nobody.

    The movie plays out like a dark comedy/sci-fi/satire using quotations from the Book of Revelations, and making references to a number of other weird movies including Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Dr. Strangelove, and the film noir Kiss Me Deadly of all movies. Basically this movie is very weird.

    Of the actors, some of them seem to get what they're doing, others just seem out of place. The Rock, who I usually enjoy, doesn't have his natural charisma to help him here. Gellar actually fares pretty well given her part. Scott seems to be the most familiar with what he needs to be doing, making him the most effective.

    As far as the supporting cast goes, older folks like John Laroquette and Nora Dunn seem to get it as well, but others like Wallace Shawn, Cheri Oteri, and especially John Lovitz are just wrong here.

    In terms of Kelly's style, its a pretty decent film. There is the same familiar cleverness present in Donnie Darko, providing for a bleak but watchable tone, although it moves very slowly at times, which is especially apparent for a 2 hr and 20 m movie. The soundtrack is pretty good, scored by Moby.

    Overall, I was not disappointed with this movie because I wasn't expecting much. It certainly wasn't frustratingly bad, its just messy.

    On repeated viewings, I find my same opinions hold up, but for some reason, I had a desire to come back to this movie. It has a certain level of ambition that is hard to explain. The film is watchable in a very strange way that makes me enjoy the film, despite still not gathering much of a personal idea of what the film wants to say. Some elements become clear, but its still damn weird. However, I find it indescribably enjoyable.

    Boxer Santaros: I'm a pimp... and pimps don't commit suicide.
  • mjgildea
    June 15, 2009
    mjgildea
    If the re-release/director's cut of Donnie Darko didn't convince you that Richard Kelly was a flash in the pan, Southland Tales should seal the argument. I will give Kelly that he put together a fine soundtrack and the grandiose and truly random casting was almost... inspired at ... read morea few points (hell, a few of the actors even did good jobs) but that same randomness (the Killers video with Justin Timberlake for instance) along with the tidal wave of half-baked and unresolved concepts were Southland Tales' downfall. If about 45 minutes were shaved off and a third of the nonsense was dropped this could've been a great movie. Instead it was about 2 1/2 disjointed hours of my I'd really like back...
  • Godless
    April 21, 2009
    Godless
    This mediocre movie starts off with some interesting WW3 senarios and then spirals into a poorly done non sensical mess. The director tried to go artsy towards the end but I'm pretty sure he just remade a mash up of Highlander 2 and Time Cop. Oh and lets not forget the line "Pimp... read mores don't commit suicide".
  • CloudStrife84
    December 20, 2008
    CloudStrife84
    A good friend of mine recommended that I should read the graphic novel before seeing this. Well, as it was 200+ pages long and didn't really look all that appealing to me, I didn't think it would be worth it just to be able to understand the overall plot of the movie version. And... read more even if I had done so, I don't think it would have made much improvement on my film-going experience. Because this was, to my great disappointment, not much more than a puzzle way too pretentious for its own good.

    I don't mind intelligent movies that require some thinking, but what I don't appreciate is weirdness for weirdness sake. I mean, I loved Donnie Darko, despite its weirdness. But what DD also had was a coherent plot that was tied to reality and also made sense within its own universe. Not only that, but it was incredibly well-directed, powerful and intriguing, which is something I can hardly say about Southland Tales, even though I wish it were so. I just expected so much more from the director who brought us one of the true masterpieces of the decade.

    So what's the final verdict? Well, despite its many flaws, I did enjoy some of its visual features and aspects, which (in a strictly artistic and esthetic sense) compelled me to at least give it a passing grade, namely 2½ stars, which to me is the equivalent of a skippable, yet overall okay movie. But keep in mind that I'm being generous here.

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Critic Reviews

Joe Baltake
December 1, 2007
Joe Baltake, Passionate Moviegoer

Richard Kelly's 'Southland Tales' Looms as rude, Confrontational Political Black Comedy about a Very Messed-Up, Dystrophian America - a Film with the Vigor and Incorrigible Quality of a Work-In-Progress. Full Review

Richard Roeper
November 19, 2007
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

One of the most confusing, ridiculous, pretentious and disastrous cinematic train wrecks I've ever seen.

Bruce Newman
November 16, 2007
Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News

By the time the movie rolls into its third hour, it's exhausted most of its comic energy, leaving you disoriented and unable to remember much of what you just saw. Full Review

Tom Long
November 16, 2007
Tom Long, Detroit News

Immature, crude, poorly made and a waste of time. Full Review

Terry Lawson
November 16, 2007
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

No amount of reworking could salvage what was a misbegotten and unfunny idea to begin with. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
November 16, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

You can't be both political and incoherent. Full Review

Wesley Morris
November 16, 2007
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

Even if the world Kelly's concocted always seems screamingly incoherent, you have to hand it to him. He's made a movie of our messy times that's too ambitious to settle for merely capturing the mess. ... Full Review

Ruthe Stein
November 16, 2007
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle

The movie's failure to come together -- indeed to make sense for most of its 144 minutes, each one passing with the speed of molasses -- is a major disappointment. Full Review

Roger Ebert
November 16, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A Schwarzeneggerian actor, related to a political dynasty, has been kidnapped, replaced with a double, and -- I give up. A plot synopsis would require that the movie have a plot. Full Review

Claudia Puig
November 15, 2007
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Writer/director Richard Kelly misses the mark with this bubbling stew of images and ideas that never quite congeals into a viable film. Full Review

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Southland Tales Trivia

  • Jennifer Love Hewitt was offered the part of Krysta Now in Southland Tales (2006) but turned it down.  Answer »
  • This actress has, - Had a hit TV show - Has worked with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ryan Phillippe - Has starred in 'Cruel Intentions' and 'Southland Tales'. Who is she?  Answer »
  • Who was in the following movies: Ice Age 1 and 2 Southland Tales The Rundown Road Trip Evolution  Answer »
  • Which character did Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson play in Southland Tales??  Answer »
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