Review of Southland Tales (2007) by Alexander Z — 29 Mar 2011
What the dick did I just watch. I pride myself on being able to make sense of overly complex narratives with dozens of subplots, but this...good god. This is a marathon of a clusterfuck. Quoting Revelations, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, and The Killers in one movie. Messianic symbolism. Time travel. The apocalypse. Pornstars. Nuclear strikes. Oppressive government. Levitating ice cream trucks. Jon Lovitz.
This film suffers from Grant Morrison syndrome. It throws a bunch of incoherency at you, ties it all together with half-assed style and symbolism when in reality the story is either banal or stupid. Oh yeah, and it's also almost literally the plot of Donnie Darko with shit shoveled on top of it. Surprise surprise.
When you sacrifice quality for creative vision, you fail. Especially when you pull a Tarantino and wear your influences on your sleeve - by making it obvious that you're emulating them.
This review of Southland Tales (2007) was written by Alexander Z on 29 Mar 2011.
Southland Tales has generally received mixed reviews.
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