Review of Southland Tales (2007) by Joel C — 10 Jan 2009

Writer-director Richard Kelly's sophomore feature is a sprawling, ambitious disaster - it's almost unbelievable that any film could go so wrong. The socio-political satire is hokey and obvious, which just makes the ridiculous, incomprehensible plot even more obnoxious and unbearable; while the woefully-miscast all-star cast turns in embarrassing, cartoonish performances.

The pretentious commentary aside, it simply fails as a film - completely devoid of any drama or suspense, and worst of all, it's painfully unfunny - though it tries desperately to be. This will no doubt go down as one of the great all-time cinematic debacles.