There's always something to be said for a filmmaker interested in pushing himself creatively, challenging his audience and testing the boundaries of narrative cinema -- that is, unless the end result is Southland Tales. Well, maybe not. I didnt necessarily dislike this movie. But it wasn't anything fantastic either. Especially in comparison to Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly's sophomore effort is obnoxiously over the top. But in even the most forgiving context, the film is still just insane.
Any plot description inherently fails to do the "story" justice, but here goes: The Rock plays Boxer Santaros, who surprisingly, is actually really good in this film, is an amnesiac movie star who wakes up one day to learn that he was kidnapped and drugged for some unspecified purpose by an unseen organization. Although he is married to Madeline Frost (Mandy Moore), he shacks up with Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a porn star trying to go legit with a barrage of media ventures, including a script that predicts the end of the world. In the meantime, a Neo-Marxist group kidnaps hero cop Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott) in the hopes of using him as a political pawn against the government; and Private Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake) watches over all, offering his own prophetic wisdom, recitign Bible quotes, as these various groups converge on a seemingly inescapable path of destruction. Too much? Thought so.
The first real note I took while watching Southland Tales was this: "How does a movie that explains so much make so little sense?" Aside from the film's central, overlapping plot lines, Southland Tales serves as a fairly heavy-handed commentary on celebrity culture, political manipulation and media saturation, and the combination of so many different themes -- all of which he attempts to explore with equal depth -- makes for a nearly incomprehensible film. But becuase I'm fucking brilliant when it comes to watching films, I understood it. But If you dont, I cant really fault you for it. or care.
No doubt, there are those who will say this film is fantastic, that anyone who doesn't like it, clearly didn't understand it. (I hate those people.) Well I'll play both sides, and say I half agree. Sure, you might be left with the impression that only Kelly himself knows exactly what is going on, but Southland Tales deserves to be embraced with open arms (and mind) on some level in a season otherwise filled with bland Christmas movies. So, its an incoherent mess at times, but I've decided to embrace it, sort of.
Southland Tales is the kind of movie that could gain classic status if it came together as successfully as it must have been imagined in the filmmaker's head. Plus Amy Poehler and Cheri O Teri are in it. So thats a plus.
B
No Country For Old Men
Lately it seems my taste in moves has seriously been lacking. Count this film in as one that will go on the list of "films everyone loves but I think is just okay." For the life of me I cant figure out what the fuck is going on with cinema recently. I just found out today that two films I absolutely hated (American Gangster and Eastern Promises) were nominated for best film of the year at the Golden Globes. Wtf? And Into the Wild was left out? I dont get it. I feel like people are being told what to like.
While "No Country" was considerably better than both those films, it still wasn't anything to hit the bong over. Do not believe the hype that surrounds this movie. I'll give it credit though, for being a sort of western and not boring me to tears. In fact, I was never bored. For being an almost silent movie, I kept interest the entire time, but thats only because I was expecting some sort of pay off, of which there was none.
Defying the normal audience’s appetite for a meaningful resolution, "No Country for Old Men" ends with a whimper rather than a bang. To a certain extent, this is faulted by the plot of the Cormac McCarthy novel, about whose work I have nothing to say because I dont care enough to read his book. I am going to reveal the conclusion of the movie momentarily so those that plan to spend ten dollars or more to be ultimately disappointed should read no further.
There are three major characters in "No Country." In the opening scene we are introduced to Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin in an impressive performance), a Vietnam veteran who is hunting deer or something in the backcountry where much of the action takes place. He happens upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad, with dead or dying Mexicans lying on the ground next to their all-terrain pickup trucks equipped with high-power spotlights (a racists dream.) After Moss notices a briefcase containing two million dollars, he takes off with it in a gesture highly reminiscent of the characters in the old westerns.
Hired to track down the cash is Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a hit-man who lugs around a stun-gun with a captive bolt that is ordinarily used for killing cattle. Chiguhr uses his to knock out the locks on doors behind which reside his intended victims or to knock out their brains slaughterhouse-style. Of unknown nationality, Chigurh is occasionally inspired to play with his intended victims, allowing them to toss a coin to decide their fate. His character is a mixture of a less interesting version of the Samuel Jackson hit-man in "Pulp Fiction." Even though Bardem is chilling as Chigurh.
The third major character is Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played by Tommie Lee Jones. Ed Tom Bell? Whatever, over it. Sheriff Bell never really gets involved in apprehending Chigurh or any other bad guys. His main purpose is...well, I don't really know. At one point, Bell tells a colleague that everything started going downhill when young people began to dye their hair green and put spikes through their noses. Or when I was led to believe this film was a brilliant work of art.
The movie actually moves along quite nicely until the final fifteen minutes or so. It consists almost entirely of Chigurh trying to track down and kill Llewelyn Moss in a manner that evokes actual suspense and creepiness. After Moss blasts him with a shotgun, Chigurh retreats to a seedy motel ("No Country" is filled with some of the scuzziest motels and hotels ever seen in a film, unless we're talking about porn) and performs surgery to remove the shotgun pellets from his knee.
Up to this point, you are expecting a grand finale with the three major characters shooting it out. You hope for Llewelyn Moss to come out on top, since his character is especially engaging and resourceful. I was expecting a shoot em up style blowout. However, Moss is killed off before such a climax can even take place The Coen brothers have him killed off-screen. The fuck? Once he is gone, you really lose interest in the film entirely. What the fuck is that about? The film ends with Bell recounting a dream he had the night prior, to his wife. Then it just ends. The movie ends like that. While not totally sucking balls, this movie was good at best, and mediocre at worst. And most certainly not the Oscar-buzz type film its being made out to be. Classic case of "just go watch a movie not expecting anything." Because it doesn't suck. It just didn't live up to the hype.
B-
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