From the director of Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly shows us an apocolyptic tale portraying the end of times, set in Southern California. Heads up, be prepared to be utterly lost and confused-- the first ten minute narrative in itself is mind boggling. After the first hour I couldn't tell if I was being distracted by the star studded cast, the funky depiction of near future events, or the mish mash of unintelligable storylines. I kept telling myself I was enlightened enough to understand, go along for the ride, in the end it will all make sense...no such salvation ever came.
Here is what I absorbed, Abilene Texas is attacked with Nuclear bombs and the United States goes right wing oppression and Patriot Act crazy. An action movie star, Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) with right wing political ties, similar to Ahhnold, goes missing in the dessert and then the madness begins....
We are introduced to a myriad of unusual Californian characters, a crew of left wing anarchists trying to bring down the government with an internet sex tape, Neo-Marxist hippie moms, right wing Nazi identification squad, an environmentalist who harnesses the energy of the ocean, a group of porn stars, again with ties to the government and none of it ever really makes sense.
Budwesier flows from scene to scene, and parties berade the California cost for two hours and twenty four minutes. I sat back and tried to take it all in. Hard to understand, but easy to watch, Southland Tales is trip far, far down the rabbit hole.
