watching movies one cup at a time

Dude… WTF? Seriously… WTF? This is the long-awaited follow-up to the cult hit Donnie Darko from writer and director Richard Kelly. And I get the impression he is going for the “David Lynch of the 21st Century” title for crazy-ass movies. In fact I think Mullholland Drive might have made MORE sense than this film if you can believe that.

To say this movie didn’t make any sense would be like saying the ocean is wet. I’m all for sophisticated movies that make you think, but I don’t want a movie that I have to think THAT hard about. And one gets the impression that there isn’t much point to “figuring it out” anyway. Who cares? I’ve read this is a retelling of the Book of Revelations, but again, so what? It’s still very random, very all over the place, and the character relationships are very confused. Every one of the characters seems to be on the good guys team AND the bad guys team at the same time. There are so many backstabbing plots going on that you need a team of detectives to keep it sorted.

Donnie Darko was confusing as well. But I guess what I like about Darko is the series of moods that it evoked. It’s moody and beautiful and slightly dangerous. Southland Tales does evoke moods as well. But the bigger budget, the bigger stars, the larger number of stars, it doesn’t connect in the same way. Everyone just seems weird for weird’s sake and nothing is real. Yawn.

I did like Dwayne Johnson and Sean William Scott in this. They played their characters well. And it was kind of cool to see a bunch of SNL alums who you don’t see often at all making some good contributions, like Nora Dunn, Cheri Oteri, John Lovitz (as a badass if you can believe that), and Amy Poehler who is pretty much in every skit on SNL these days. Also John Larroquette was very good and you never see him in movies these days. I’m glad Richard Kelly used some interesting choices in casting. Kevin Smith was kind of wasted in his role and I have heard a bulk of his scenes were cut.

Justin Timberlake was actually really, really good in this movie. Love him or hate him, the guy has talent. When he’s been on SNL as a host, he’s been brilliant. And he sinks into his rather bizarre character very well in this movie. His musical number set to The Killers “All The Things I’ve Done” is fantastic and very different from what we’re used to from him. He pulls it off. Kudos to him. His scene is the only reason I’m giving this flick 3 cups instead of 2.

Overall there are some very cool moments in this movie. And some very cool visuals mixed in with everything. But it’s just not enough to make it an effective movie. I feel like I’m seeing a chopped up version that is missing about 2/3 of the story. There are 3 graphic novel “prequels” to this film. But forget having to read before you get to the theater. The movie should stand alone as it’s own entity. Or just go straight to DVD and bundle it all together. Check out the flick, it’s unconventional. Just keep in mind you might need a study guide to go with it.