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Southland Tales
File:Southland Tales poster.jpg
Promotional poster for Southland Tales
Directed byRichard Kelly
Written byRichard Kelly
Produced bySean McKittrick
Bo Hyde
Kendall Morgan
StarringDwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Seann William Scott
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Justin Timberlake
Wallace Shawn
Miranda Richardson
Mandy Moore
Kevin Smith
John Larroquette
Jon Lovitz
Music byMoby
Distributed bySamuel Goldwyn Films
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (DVD)
Universal Pictures
Release dates
November 14, 2007
Running time
144 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15–17 million

Southland Tales is a 2007 science fiction / drama / Black comedy film, written and directed by Richard Kelly. The title refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California and Greater Los Angeles. Set in the near future, the film is a portrait of Los Angeles and a comment on the military-industrial news-tainment complex. The film features an ensemble cast headed by Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott and Sarah Michelle Gellar, and also featuring Miranda Richardson, Cheri Oteri, Christopher Lambert, Mandy Moore, Justin Timberlake and fellow film director Kevin Smith. Original music for the film was provided by Moby. Samuel Goldwyn Films in partnership with Destination Films and Sony Pictures released Southland Tales.

The film premiered May 21, 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a negative reception[1][2]. It opened in wide release in California on November 14, 2007 and in Canada as well as nation wide in United States on November 16, 2007. The film opened in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2007.[3]

Plot

El Paso and Abilene, Texas have fallen victim to simultaneous nuclear attacks on July 4, 2005 which sends America into World War 3 ("brought to you by Bud Light, Hustler..." and a number of other corporate sponsors). The Republican Party's overwhelming victory in the 2006 elections upgrades the Patriot Act into new agency known as US-IDENT, a Big Brother surveillance agency under the guise of a national security think-tank. America not only shuts its borders to all other nations, but also requires visas for interstate travel. US Senator and GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Bobby Frost (Holmes Osborne) is presiding over the opening of US-IDENT with his wife, Nana Mae Frost (Miranda Richardson), installed as its director. The effects of the ongoing wars make the economic reliance on oil unsustainable. In response to the newfound fuel scarcity, the German company Treer, run by an idiosyncratic billionaire, Baron Von Westphalen (Wallace Shawn), builds a massive tidal current generator off the coast of Los Angeles, capable of beaming energy to any given output.

The story unfolds in Los Angeles, a city terrorized by both a Neo-Marxist revolutionary group and the police, operating loosely under the control of US-IDENT. The film is narrated by Iraq war veteran Private Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake) who mans a post on the Santa Monica pier, operating a large rifle. A conservative-leaning movie star named Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) has just returned after being missing for several days and now has amnesia. Prior to his disappearance Boxer was married to the daughter of Bobby Frost, Madeline (Mandy Moore). After reappearing, he does not remember elements of his former life and has instead begun an affair with a former porn-star, now talk show host, named Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar).

Meanwhile, a group of Neo-Marxist revolutionaries comprised of Cyndi Pinziki (Nora Dunn), Zora Carmichaels (Cheri Oteri), Veronica Mung (Dream), Dion Element, and Roland Taverner (although his name may be Ronald) (Sean William Scott) is hatching a plan to turn the national spotlight against US-IDENT. They have kidnapped Taverner's twin brother, a police officer, and plan to outfit Roland in his uniform and car in order to stage a fake racially motivated double murder of Dream and Dion using blanks and blood squibs. Boxer and Krysta have written a movie script about riots caused by the slowing of the Earth's rotation, in which Boxer will play an LA cop. To prepare for the role, he goes on a ride-a-long with Taverner, bringing a video camera with him. Taverner responds to a staged domestic disturbance call and arrives at a house where Dream and Dion are disguised as newlyweds having a heated dispute. Unexpectedly, another cop, Bart Bookman (Jon Lovitz) arrives on the scene and insists on helping. Upon entering the home, Bookman murders Dream and Dion for real, thus turning the staged tragedy into a real one. Taverner and Boxer run out of the house in a panic.

At this point, Boxer is contacted by one of Frost's aids, Vaughn Smallhouse (John Larroquette), who sends a car to pick him up. Taverner meets up with Zora and tries to convince her that something has gone wrong-- however Zora has actually partnered with Bookman to murder the couple and injects Taverner with a syringe of liquid Karma in the neck, leaving him in the street. US-IDENT raids the Neo-Marxist headquarters and Taverner's brother escapes by climbing to the roof and jumping into a dumpster.

When Boxer arrives at the Frost mansion, Baron Von Westphalen and his entourage is also present. The Frost's receive a call from Cyndi demanding $10 million in exchange for a Boxer and Krysta sex tape. During the conversation, it becomes clear that while Frost is seeking the presidency, Baron Von Westphalen is seeking nothing short of complete world domination using the leverage of his energy machine. Also, Madeline is pregnant. Boxer receives a phone call from Starla Von Luft, a US-IDENT monitoring agent who is posing as a character from Boxer and Krysta's screenplay. She asks Boxer to meet her at the Santa Monica beach and he leaves immediately.

The next day, Vaughn Smallhouse meets Cyndi Pinziki at a restaurant to exchange money for the sex tape. She warns him that an even more incriminating tape exists (the US-IDENT murder tape). Boxer arrives at the beach and meets Starla. Starla threatens that she will kill herself if he doesn't allow her to give him a blowjob. Private Abilene shoots and kills her from his perch at the top of the pier and Boxer runs off, only to be confronted by supposed friend Fortunio (Will Sasso)) who knocks him unconscious and takes him back to the Frosts. The Frosts and the entire city are preparing for a giant party to celebrate the launch of Von Westphalen's Mega-Zeppelin, which runs entirely on Liquid Karma. Krysta Now stops by Zora's apartment to buy some drugs for the party, but while there, sees the videotape of the double murder. Thinking it is her sex tape, she picks it up. After realizing what it is, she drops it in a Neo-Marxist dropbox so that it will be broadcast live on the internet, exposing the US-IDENT police as corrupt and racist.

Meanwhile, Westphalen meets with the Japanese prime minister to broker a deal: he will provide Japan with an energy generator in exchange for his pinky finger. However, one of the members of Westphalen's entourage, the provactively dressed Serpentine (Bai Ling) cuts off his entire hand. Taverner's brother awakens in the dumpster and climbs out, only to be captured by an arms dealer in an ice cream truck (Christopher Lambert). Elsewhere, Taverner awakens and sets out to find his brother. At the pier, a young man named Martin Kefauver meets with Private Abilene to purchase some Liquid Karma injections. Abilene himself was subject to injections in Fallujah, of which he was one of the few survivors of his unit. After Kefauver leaves, Abilene begins a lip-synced song sequence of The Killers' All These Things That I've Done.

Taverner encounters Kefauver in an SUV about to shoot himself because he was drafted. Taverner stops him and the two go in search of Taverner's brother with Kefauver planning to go to Mexico afterwards. They stop and steal an entire ATM as chaos begins to erupt all over Los Angeles. On the MegaZeppelin, an upper class party is just getting underway with the Frosts, Westphalen's entourage, and Krysta's entourage on board. Boxer leaves the main hall of the ship in search of answers. He encounters a room with three of Westphalen's scientists (presumably) who explain that he was select to travel through a time rift in the desert along with Taverner during the time of his disappearance and he is, in fact, his future self. Both present and future Taverner (Taverner's 'brother') are loose in Los Angeles and if they touch each other, dire consequences could unfold. Furthermore, the generator has altered the ocean currents, causing Earth to spiral out of control, ripping holes in the fabric of space and time. Also, Boxer's present self is dead by suicide; the scientists show him the corpse. Boxer asserts that suicide is impossible because he is a pimp and "pimps don't commit suicide."

Outside, as a firefight ensues between the rioters and the police, both Taverners crash into each other. One Taverner is shot in the eye but survives. Inside the ice cream truck the Taverners hold hands and the truck begins to rise into the air along with Kefauver who is standing on it with a shoulder-mounted heat-seeking ground-to-air missile. US-IDENT headquarters is raided by rioters and Nana Mae Frost is killed. Inside the MegaZeppelin, Boxer returns to the main hall and takes the stage for a dance number involving Krysta and his wife, Madeline. Krysta reveals that Boxer was actually murdered in a car bomb, confirming his belief that he did not commit suicide. Kefauver fires a rocket at the MegaZeppelin and destroys it. As the Taverners continue to hold hands, a time rift begins to grow larger in the sky. One Taverner offers to kill himself but the other reminds him that he is a pimp and pimps do not commit suicide. Abilene narrates that a new age is beginning with Taverner as its Messiah.

Cast

  • Dwayne Johnson as Boxer Santaros: An amnesiac action star whose life crosses paths with Krysta Now.[4] Santaros is married to Madeline Frost Santaros.[5]
  • Seann William Scott as Roland Taverner / Ronald Taverner: A police officer at Hermosa Beach, California.[4] Scott also portrays the police officer's identical twin, who is a neo-Marxist.[5]
  • Sarah Michelle Gellar as Krysta Now: An adult film star who is working on creating a reality TV show.[4] Gellar met with Kelly and was drawn to the original ideas in his script for Southland Tales.[6]
  • Miranda Richardson as Nana Mae Frost: The ambitious antagonist of the film, Boxer's mother-in-law is the head of US-IDENT.
  • Justin Timberlake as Pilot Abilene: A disfigured Iraq War veteran.[7] He narrates the film and also performs a musical number.[5]
  • Wallace Shawn as Baron Von Westphalen: A villain who controls ocean waves to create a source of power.[5]
  • John Larroquette as Vaughn Smallhouse: an advisor to senator Robert Frost.[5]
  • Mandy Moore as Madeline Frost Santaros: Wife of Boxer Santaros and daughter of senator Frost.
  • Jon Lovitz as Bart Bookman An LAPD cop, secretly working with the Neo-Marxists.[5]
  • Kevin Smith as Simon Theory: A legless Iraqi War veteran who works for Baron Von Westphalen.[8]

Production

Writer-director Richard Kelly wrote Southland Tales shortly before the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the original script involved blackmail, a porn star, and two cops. Since the attacks, Kelly revised the script. He described the update, "[The original script] was more about making fun of Hollywood. But now it's about, I hope, creating a piece of science fiction that's about a really important problem we're facing, about civil liberties and homeland security and needing to sustain both those things and balance them."[7]

Southland Tales was described to take place in Los Angeles in the summer of 2008, during a three-day heat wave that leads up to the 4th of July celebration. Kelly described the film, "[Southland Tales] will only be a musical in a post-modern sense of the word in that it is a hybrid of several genres. There will be some dancing and singing, but it will be incorporated into the story in very logical scenarios as well as fantasy dream environments."[9] Kelly has stated that the film's biggest influences are Kiss Me Deadly, Pulp Fiction, Brazil and Dr. Strangelove. He also calls it a "strange hybrid of the sensibilities of Andy Warhol and Philip K. Dick".[10]

In March 2004, Kelly and Cherry Road Films began development of Southland Tales. Filmmakers entered negotiations with actors Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Lee, Janeane Garofalo, Tim Blake Nelson, Amy Poehler, Kevin Smith and Ali Larter to be cast into the film. Filmmakers also contacted musician Moby for the possibility of composing and performing the film's score.[9]

Filming was slated to begin in July 2004, but after a year, filming had not begun on Southland Tales. Actor Dwayne Johnson joined the cast in April 2005, and principal photography was slated to begin August 1 2005 in Los Angeles.[4] Filming for Southland Tales began on August 15, 2005, with a budget of around US$15–17 million.

Southland Tales premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2006 with a length of 160 minutes.[11] After the film's festival release, Southland Tales was purchased by Sony Pictures.[12] Kelly sought more financing to finish visual effects for the film, and he negotiated a deal with Sony to cut down on the film's length in exchange for funds to complete the visual effects.[13] Kelly edited the film down to the basic storylines of the characters portrayed by Scott, Gellar, and Johnson. The director also sought to keep the musical number performed by Timberlake, based on "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers.[7] Editorial changes were made to restructure the order of the film's scenes, including re-recording all of Timberlake's voice-over. The director also added 90 new visual effects shots to the film and removed 20 to 25 minutes of footage from his initial cut.[14]

Marketing

Southland Tales was initially planned to be a nine-part "interactive experience", with the first six parts published in six 100-page graphic novels that would be released in a six-month period up to the film's release. The feature film comprises the final three parts of the experience. A website was also developed to intertwine with the graphic novels and the film itself.[4] The idea of six graphic novels was later narrowed down to three. The novels were written by Kelly and illustrated by Brett Weldele.

  • Part One: Two Roads Diverge (May 25, 2006, ISBN 093621175X)
  • Part Two: Fingerprints (September 15, 2006, ISBN 0936211768)
  • Part Three: The Mechanicals (January 31, 2007, ISBN 0936211776)

They have been collected together into one single volume:

  • Southland Tales: The Prequel Saga (360 pages, Graphitti Designs, ISBN 0936211806)

The titles of the parts in the movie are:

  • Part Four: Temptation Waits
  • Part Five: Memory Gospel
  • Part Six: Wave Of Mutilation

Release

Cannes Film Festival

Along with two other American filmmakers (Sofia Coppola with Marie-Antoinette and Richard Linklater with Fast Food Nation), Kelly's follow-up to Donnie Darko was in competition for the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

Critical reaction to the movie in its original, longer form was almost entirely negative. Many critics responded unfavorably to the film's long running time and sprawling nature. Roger Ebert described the Cannes screening as "The most disastrous since, yes, The Brown Bunny."[15] Salon.com critic Andrew O'Hehir called the Cannes cut "about the biggest, ugliest mess I've ever seen."[16] Jason Solomons, in The Observer (UK), said that "Southland Tales was so bad it made me wonder if [Kelly] had ever met a human being" and that ten minutes of the "sprawling, plotless, post-apocalyptic farrago" gave him the "sinking feeling that this may be one of the worst films ever presented in [Cannes] competition."[17] A handful of the American and European critics, however, were far more positive.[18] Village Voice critic J. Hoberman, for example, called Southland Tales "a visionary film about the end of times" comparable in recent American film only to David Lynch's acclaimed Mulholland Drive.[19]

Theatrical release

Southland Tales was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on November 9, 2007 in partnership with Destination Films and Sony Pictures.[20] As of October 12, 2007, the film was pushed back five days to November 14, 2007.[21] The film will be released in the UK on December 7, 2007.

The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of November 16, 2007 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 43% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 46 reviews.[22] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 8 reviews.[23]

Glenn Kenny, in his review for Premiere criticized the film's style, "Kelly's camera placement and framing are at best textbook and at worst calamitously mediocre."[24] In her review for the Los Angeles Times, Carina Chocano wrote, "You get the sense that Kelly is too angry to really find any of it funny. It's easy to empathize with his position, not so easy to remain engrossed in a film that's occasionally inspired but ultimately manic and scattered."[25] David Edelstein's review in New York magazine criticized the film's writing, "Kelly aims high and must have shot off his own ear, which is the only way to account for the dialogue."[26]

On the program Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips gave the film a negative review. While Roeper called the film "Two hours and Twenty four minutes of abstract crap", Phillips admited that "the film has a head on its shoulders despite that fact that it can't find any direction." [27]

However, J. Hoberman defended the film, yet again, in his review for the theatrical cut. "In its willful, self-involved eccentricity, Southland Tales is really something else. Kelly's movie may not be entirely coherent, but that's because there's so much it wants to say."[28] Manohla Dargis also gave the film a positive review in the New York Times, writing, "He doesn’t make it easy to love his new film, which turns and twists and at times threatens to disappear down the rabbit hole of his obsessions. Happily, it never does, which allows you to share in his unabashed joy in filmmaking as well as in his fury about the times."[29]

Trailer

The trailer for the film was released on September 20, 2007 and can be found here. It contains lines from T. S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men", as well as music by Moby ("Blue Paper"), The Pixies ("Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf Mix)") and Elbow ("Forget Myself").

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for "Southland Tales" was released in stores and online on November 6, 2007. The tracklist in full:

  1. The Pixies- Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf Version)
  2. Bertha Tillman- Oh My Angel
  3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- Howl (Extended Version)
  4. Moby- Look Back In
  5. Waylon Jennings- Me & Bobby McGee
  6. Moby- Chord Sounds
  7. Roger Webb- Lucky Me
  8. Moby- 3 Steps
  9. Big Head Todd & The Monsters- Broken Hearted Savior
  10. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Abbey McBride and ClarKent- Teen Horniness is Not a Crime
  11. Moby- Tiny Elephants
  12. Elbow- Forget Myself
  13. Rebekah del Rio & The Section Quartet- The Star Spangled Banner
  14. Jane's Addiction- Three Days (Live Version)
  15. Moby- Memory Gospel

Amongst the songs not available on the soundtrack but featured in the film are Muse's Blackout, Moby's Blue Paper (used in the trailer, not the film), The Killers' All The Things I've Done, and Blur's "Tender". Additionally, tracks from Radiohead, Louis Armstrong, Beethoven, and Kris Kristofferson are likewise absent from the album.

References

  1. ^ "Review on rogerebert.com". Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  2. ^ "New York Times review by Manohla Dargis". Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  3. ^ "Southland Tales (2006) - Release dates". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-11-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e Cherry Road Films (2005-04-21). "The Rock Heads to Tales". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f Angela Doland (2006-05-21). "'Southland' Imagines L.A. Apocalypse". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Gellar Heads To Southland". 2004-10-05. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  7. ^ a b c Mark Peranson (2006-05-30). "Goodbye Southland, Goodbye". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Hilary Goldstein (2005-07-26). "Before Southland Tales". IGN. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b Cathy Dunkley (2004-03-24). "Cherry Road hot for Kelly's 'Tales'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Etherington, Daniel (2006). "Southland Tales preview". Channel 4. Retrieved 2005-09-16.
  11. ^ Harlan Jacobson (2006-05-22). "'Volver,' 'Southland Tales' premiere at Cannes". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Mark Bell (2006-09-12). "How The World Ends: Conversation With Richard Kelly". Film Threat. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Jeremy Smith (2007-07-28). "Exclusive Interview: Richard Kelly (Southland Tales)". CHUD.com. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Patrick Lee (2007-07-28). "Kelly Talks Southland Changes". Sci Fi Wire. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Ebert, Roger (2007-11-16). "Southland Tales". suntimes.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  16. ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (2006-05-22). "Beyond the Multiplex: Cannes". Salon.com. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
  17. ^ Solomons, Jason (2006-05-28). "Get set for Palme Sunday". The Observer. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
  18. ^ Links to many post-Cannes reviews, including multiple positive reviews by American, French, Spanish, Polish, and other reviewers.
  19. ^ Hoberman, J. (2006-05-23). "Code Unknown". Village Voice. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference opens-Nov.9_Variety was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=13204
  22. ^ "Southland Tales - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-11-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  23. ^ "Southland Tales (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-11-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  24. ^ Kenny, Glenn (2007-11-13). "Southland Tales". Premiere. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  25. ^ Chocano, Carina (2007-11-14). "Southland Tales". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  26. ^ Edelstein, David (2007-11-12). "Family Guy". New York. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  27. ^ Southland Tales review on the At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper website.
  28. ^ Hoberman, J. (2007-11-06). "Revelation". Village Voice. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  29. ^ Dargis, Manohla (2007-11-14). "Apocalypse Soon: A Mushroom Cloud Doesn't Stall 2008 Electioneering". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
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