Review of Southland Tales

Sceptical at first about the obvious ensemble cast of supporting character actors, I found this movie enjoyable and even touching at times. It seems to vacillate between action film, dark comedy, musical piece and sci-fi thriller, never settling on a particular genre. One theme is clear throughout; an obvious distaste for the recent political direction our country has taken. My favorite moments are when reality is suspended in order to convey feeling and emotion through music or visual effects. So many films these days present us with scenarios or physical devices that we are supposed to accept as real and plausible. Kelly throws all this out the window by mocking his story within the story. Even when it's over I'm not so sure any of it happened.

To me it was a movie about pursuing what you believe and having the self-awareness to accept things you have done and let them go even when you aren't sure why they happened.

There are two main drawbacks in my opinion. Kelly can't seem to decide which story is more important (maybe that's the point but it makes for a confusing movie). Also, this film is about 2 and 1/2 hours long. IMO it needed to be longer to allow for more development, (though the confusion puts you in the mindset of the characters) or it needed to be shorter to keep it moving.

I liked this film. I had to watch it twice (and the last half 3 times) to get my mind around it.