“I’m a pimp, and pimps don’t commit suicide.” —Boxer Santaros
Today’s quick review: Southland Tales. In 2005, a nuclear attack on the United States sent the country down a path of war, political turmoil, and state surveillance. Now, in the lead-up to the 2008 election, Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), an actor with political connections, finds himself at the center of a blackmail plot that could swing the election. But even more troubling are signs that his latest, apocalyptic screenplay could be prophetic.
Southland Tales is a science fiction thriller that blends elements of dark comedy, mystery, and political satire. The movie features a sprawling plot that involves a presidential election, an ex-porn star’s new career, a suspicious new source of renewable energy, a violent revolutionary group, and a veteran coming to terms with his past. However, the story proves to be more than it can handle, resulting in a jumbled movie with only niche appeal.
Southland Tales runs on a mixture of social commentary and surreal science fiction. The setting is a political playground, a dystopian take on America that lets the movie explore a grab bag of themes and hypotheticals. It is populated with caricatures of politicians, activists, and celebrities, all of them contributing in their own way to the coming destruction. At its best, this gives the movie a colorful, larger-than-life quality to it.
The story is a loosely connected mystery about Boxer Santaros, an actor who went missing in the desert and returned with amnesia. In way over his head, Boxer tries to piece together what happened to him, all while falling deeper into an amateurish political conspiracy. Southland Tales starts disjointed and only gets more surreal as the movie progresses. While it eventually delivers some answers, they are dwarfed by the number of questions it raises.
Ultimately, Southland Tales is too ambitious for its own good. The political satire robs the characters of the normalcy and nuance the audience needs to connect with them, resulting in a movie that’s hard to invest in at an emotional level. The story is a cacophony of different ideas that all compete for the audience’s attention, making it hard to follow at best and incomprehensible at worst. Nothing about it makes for an easy or coherent watch.
Yet for all of its faults, Southland Tales will hold a certain appeal to fans of surreal science fiction and vocal political commentary. Tucked away in its script are a number of clever ideas that never get their chance to shine, and a subset of viewers will enjoy trying to puzzle together the meaning in the chaos. Those curious may want to give it a try, but general audiences should steer clear.
For a more outrageous political satire about the War on Terror, try War, Inc. For a sci-fi tinged political thriller with a much more grounded plot, try The Adjustment Bureau. For a sci-fi conspiracy thriller with more action, try Total Recall or Minority Report. For a noir-style investigation with a similarly abstract through-line, check out The Big Bang. For a surreal puzzle in the same vein, try Revolver, The Nines, Cloud Atlas, or Mr. Nobody.
5.4 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for an ambitious story with only niche appeal.