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Southland Tales

Southland Tales

Actor(s): Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Curtis Armstrong, Joe Campana
Director(s): Richard Kelly
10


Details

MPAA Rating: R
Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Drug Content
Movie Release: 2006
DVD Release: 03/18/2008
Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned
Audio Tracks: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Number of Discs: 1
Run Time: 2 hrs 24 mins
Studio: Sony Pictures
Members Wishing: 25
Genres: Comedy Drama, Thriller, Black Comedy, Ensemble Film, Paranoid Thriller
See Also: Southland Tales [Widescreen] [Blu-ray]

Synopsis

California is at the epicenter of a political and environmental disaster that threatens to destroy the world in this ambitious fusion of comedy, drama, dystopian science fiction, and music from writer and director Richard Kelly, his first film after gaining a cult following with Donnie Darko. In the year 2005, a nuclear attack wipes out part of the state of Texas, and three years later America is a virtual police state, with the government taking control of nearly every part of people's lives, supposedly for their own good. A German firm has found a way to generate energy using seawater, but both public and private concerns are desperate to prevent the new technology from being introduced in the gasoline-starved United States. A Marxist underground based on the West Coast is determined to bring down the federal government through violent revolution.

In this midst of this chaos, we follow a number of stories that continually return to three principle characters. Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock) is an actor famous for his role in action films; he's trying to secure financing for a new project, but reality keeps mirroring the events in his script and he struggles to hold on to his identity following a bout with amnesia. Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a porn star who is reinventing herself as a television pundit offering her views on politics, contemporary culture, and teenage sex. And Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott) is an L.A. police officer whose identity has mysteriously split in two, and he struggles to track down his other half. Featuring a massive supporting cast which includes Mandy Moore, Miranda Richardson, Wallace Shawn, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Smith, Amy Poehler, and Justin Timberlake, Southland Tales received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival; director Kelly also created an accompanying series of three graphic novels that chart these events and characters prior to this story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast

Dwayne Johnson - Boxer Santaros
Seann William Scott - Roland Taverner/Ronald Taverner
Sarah Michelle Gellar - Krysta Kapowski/Krysta Now
Curtis Armstrong - Dr. Soberin Exx
Joe Campana - Brandt Huntington


Member Reviews

Rebecca S. - SAN DIEGO, CA wrote on 10/27/2008...

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.
As someone who was knocked out by Donnie Darko, I had high hopes for this second feature by the same writer / director. I, like many other viewers, came away greatly disappointed. While the film has moments (Justin Timberlake's musical number and John Lovits spouting dialog from Philip K. Dick novels, for instance) the overly convoluted plot and The Rock's constant mugging for the camera quickly become irksome. My best advice, skip this one and check out Alpha Dog instead. Not only does Timberlake take his shirt off, but the SOB can really act.

Greg H. - CHICAGO, IL wrote on 10/27/2008...

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
The phrase "self-indulgent claptrap" is bandied about so much these days...


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