Review of Southland Tales (2007) by Daver. — 03 Dec 2007

I'm a huge Darko fan, which is why I wanted to see this film. So I was favorably inclined, and I'm sorry to report that it didn't work for me. I appreciate that Kelly explored some deeper questions about religion and civil liberties and security without pounding the same slogans and hot-buttons that too often pass for intelligent debate.

I salute his effort, but it just didn't hook me. The characters are flat and the plot is muddled and convoluted. I couldn't keep pace with what was going on, and I wasn't much interested in who lived or died.

In other words, the experience was so detached that I couldn't relate. I saw it but I didn't feel it. Contrast this against, say, "Sin City" or "Pulp Fiction", which managed to cover a lot of graphic-novel-type turf (I think this is the sort of atmosphere that Kelly was trying to create), while at the same time drawing me in with charismatic characters and relationships that worked.