Southland Tales (2007)

complete waste of time!

An interesting mess. The world that Richard Kelly builds is really interesting... if only he could find a better story to tell in it. The Rock (sorry, Dwanye Johnson) gives an unexpected but endearing performance.

There is alot to take in at the beginning of this movie. Well worth viewing again. Good to see comedy actors playing differnt roles. Loved it.

Biggest waste of time - I turned it off after about half an hour. Total crap!!

This is the most underdone, indulged, listless, pit of dross you could ever imagine to see. And don't try and convince yourself that because it is so justifiably slammed by critics that you might just like it in a bad-taste or cult way...It is truly shit-house. Burn all copies you come in contact with and never, ever trust anyone who says this is a good film.

As this movie unfolds you have the sneaking suspicion that all the balls that Richard Kelly has thrown up into the air will either rain down in a deluge of meaninglessness or will amount to a breathtaking feat of juggling and a thing of real beauty. As it turns it was neither. The story makes sense, eventually, but there was too much going for any one message or idea to shine. There are some great themes at play in this film but by the end, I din't know any more about pornography, peak oil, climate change, censorship, political corruption, democracy, renewable energy, or reality TV to name but a few of the issues canvassed in this film. I enjoyed the cleverness of the script and the way the balls were all caught deftly by the final credits but I don't really know what I had just seen.

Confusing and long.

Waste of an Hour and a half. Not worth the effort.

This is an absoluely brilliant movie but it's taken me a few watches to come close to understanding its complexities. What i think can be so offputting about the film is that its cast are so pigeonholed in terms of previous roles - something apparently Kelly did deliberately - that sometimes it's difficult to look past that, especially I think with the SNL cast members. The film is also parts IV, V and VI of a 6-part story, the first three appearing as a graphic novel (which I'm yet to read). The performances are compelling, which encouraged me to watch it multiple times. It's almost Mulholland Drive-esque, but where Lynch was commenting specifically on Hollywood (I believe), Kelly is having a dig at a wide variety of media and other social phenomena, including Hollywood. With Internet censorship being such a hot topic in Australia at the moment, I found that USIDent had particular resonance. Anyway - watch the film, don't expect full comprehension of the plot on the first viewing and give it a second go if need be. Well worth it.

Terrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awful film. Please don't waste your time.

Not my cup of tea, but considering the cast I had very high expectations.

Terrible film that must have relied on it's big names to even get in the cinemas. After struggling to watch until the end, thinking maybe all would be revealed, I was thoroughly disappointed.

couldnt understand this movie

I think you have to enjoy lateral thinking to fully appreciate this one. It's a tongue-in-cheek masterpiece that constantly makes fun of it's own absurdity- The Rock playing an action star who writes a screenplay that foretells the events of the movie we're watching? hmmm.. Sarah Michelle Gellar as a Porn Star with her own "chat-reality" show? That gives you feel for the kind of movie this is. Part psychological, part comedy, part drama, part political-satire, and completely self-aware- just don't take it too seriously. It also needs repeated viewings to fully grasp. Though I enjoyed it on first watch. It's called the art of cinema!!! You be the Judge...

Bizarre film, but worth watching... Did I mention that it's bizzare? David Lynch eat your heart out! Never even heard of the movie before I randomly hired it from Quickflix, and it's the second film I've seen with a combo fo Sean William Scott and the Rock (although he has a new more serious stage name now I believe), and they make a great combo for some strange reason... It had elements of Donnie Darko, Lynch and Total Recall (old school Arnie) to it... strange, strange, strange, but kind of good... watch it, if you're alittle bit special.

Crap, don't bother

Boring put me to sleep within 5 minutes didnt bother trying to watch the rest. I do not reconment this movie. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Awful. I didn't bother watching to the end.

Do not waste your time. After 15 minutes it had to be turned off..........

Big names, big dissappointment! All efforts were placed on getting the movie stars but no effort was made on storyline.

Poo on a stick, without the stick.

I thought this was a bit strange.. didnt really 'get it' Dont know if there was anything to be 'got' was tempted to turn it off near the end when it got really bad!

Strange, odd, weird, Hmmmmm. I got interrupted the first viewing and got about 3/4 of the way through. I watched it right through the following night and still couldn't figure it out. Possibly the strangest movie I have seen.

Literally unwatchable. This is a total mess of a movie that should never have progressed beyond script stage without someone seeing the enormous, horrible problems it has.

there seems to be a very firm line between opinions of this film... very much a love/hate thing. personally, i loved it. yes, it was grandiose and over the top, at times [at least in the first viewing] confusing, but honestly, that was half the fun of it. superb performances from all actors involved... most of them in roles i would not have expected them to take on. Kelly does a fine job of brining all the disparate pieces of the puzzle together to form a sprawling tapestry that is sure to delight... if you have the patience and understanding to stick with it...

I fell asleep 5 times trying to finish this movie.

Absolutely horrible, I didn't even bother to watch the end. There is no story that makes sense let alone characters.

Is Richard Kelly trying to be a Gen-X David Lynch? Southland Tales ends up feeling incomplete and fractured, which is a real pity because I get the feeling there was greatness lurking in the shadows here. I'd really like to see a more comprehensive cut of the film and a little more explanation from the director, because as it is, it's just too messy and disjointed.

Paul G, if you actually paid attention, it makes perfect sense. Great film and worthy follow-up to "donnie darko", failed to be released as distributors know average population is stupid.

Great ensemble cast but as for the plot, what plot? I seriously suspect the screenwriter and producer were on hallogenic drugs whilst doing this one. No wonder it never made it to the cinema.

the most stupid warped piece of tripe i have ever watched. i am gob smaked that it was ever made. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.

Different style of movie, lots of big name actors, bit different to what i normally watch but was worth the watch. not everybodies cuppa tea.

Complete and utter rubbish! Do not rent this movie. Storyline just waffles all over the place and never really makes much sense at all.

This movie is really waste of time to watch i never watch it again and take this movie back right away!!!, so i can not be waste of time.

Truly one of the worst movies I've seen recently. Dwyane Johnson is pathetic in the lead (what's with the hands Dwayne?). Everyone else is wasted. Donnie Darko must have been a fluke - Richard Kelly seems to have gone the way of M. Night Shyamalan.

Terrible. A stupid and confusing story. How could anyone agree to do a movie with such a bad script...? The review of Paul G is spot on.

Truly awful. Has a great cast and cinematography is of a high standard. However it just does not work. The storyline is just too silly to follow.They say it is all in the editing and this one is badly edited.

I can understand the confusion of other reviewers, but to say that this movie has no storyline is absurd. It's an apocalyptic sci-fi satire with strong references to the book of revelations (as clearly mentioned in the movie itself) and a deeply absorbing story containing quite scary relevance/parallels to our world today. With the looming world energy crisis, this movie only gains more relevance each day. Even though there are such heavy themes being dealt with, it can be easier to take if it is simply treated as an over the top satire. Either way, it definitely has a storyline, one that keeps you thinking well after the movie has ended. It should be said that it is also much easier to understand if you read the graphic novel by Richard Kelly, 'The Prequel Saga', which actually presents parts I-III of the story, the movie itself comprising parts IV-VI. However, a reading of the novel is not a pre-requisite, the movie is thoroughly enjoyable by itself. Although at times misunderstood, it is well worth a watch.

if you liked Donnie Darko but thought it was too structured, rent this. this film has splashes of tank girl's eclectic, random odd-ball characters with the borderline-obnoxious self importance of... well, just about every mainstream film i've seen referencing the war in Iraq. Don't be put off by the cast. I'm not a fan of Sean William Scott OR Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Sarah Michelle Gellar was good for Buffy and nothing else. But the one-liners of these eccentric characters quite tickled me. I understand why the other reviewers didn't like this film but in my humble opinion, a film this overstated and nonsensical can be FUN once in awhile, if you can handle it. great stuff.

terrible movie, don't waste your time.

I dont know how you attract so many well know people to appear in such a hopeless movie. Dont watch this...you'll never get the 2 hrs of your life back.

No where as good as Donnie Darko - the characters were far too superficial to satisfy this complex apocalpytic story. The cast of Saturday Night Live did not help matters - not that enjoyable - very dull...

Richard Kelly once again creates a story based around the end of the world and time travel. If you watch this you must suspend your grasp of reality and just go along for the ride. Not successful like it's predecessor, but still worth a look as it touches on current events going on in the US, such as the run up to their next election and the war in Iraq and it's effects on returning soldiers.

Donnie Darko's director sets out to confuse us again, and succeeds - for all the wrong reasons.

MAN I TURNED IT OFF IN THE FIRST 10 MINUTES. A shame coz they had heaps of famous people but it was a stupid movie. Very disappointed and i'm sure it could've been better... :(

This is an absolute dogs breakfast of a movie. A HUGE disappointment from the maker of Donnie Darko, that starts of badly and just seems to go nowhere. The overacting on display here is ludicrous to the point of distraction and the storyline is a confused mess of half baked ideas. Someone must have had faith in this project but why is a mystery. Not even so bad it's good. Just plain bad.

Different but worth it

A very confusing movie that never seems to know where it is going

WHAT THE........ this is a classic example of no matter how many big names you put into a movie it can still turn out to be a big pile of steaming CRAP. This movie is TERRIBLE it just makes no sense from start to finish, after 2 and a 1/4 hours you think that you would have some sort of idea what this movie was about but I didn't have a clue. This movie is just BAD. Don't be fooled like me that with all the great actors this must be a hidden gem as this is a lump of coal. Avoid unless your into self punishment.

Hmm, not sure about this one. Seems like a wank rather than a well thought out plan. Storyline is basically non existant, too many bits that have nothing to do with anything. Rather random actually, but still interesting enough to watch.