Southland Tales (R, 2007)

Set in Los Angeles in the year 2008, World War III has erupted, the environment is trashed, alternative fuels are king, veterans are returning from the front mentally and physically scarred beyond recognition, and civil liberties have been all but eradicated by the complete expansion of the Patriot Act. The son-in-law of the Republican vice presidential candidate, Boxer Santaros (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), has shown up in the Southland (aka Southern California) unable to remember parts of his past. He hooks up with Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) -- a porn star who has dreams of world domination -- and writes a screenplay that's dangerously prescient. Meanwhile, a soldier (Seann William Scott) desperately tries to track him down as Neo-Marxists threaten to take over.

While Richard Kelly's 2001 cult-hit feature Donnie Darko put his name on the map, SOUTHLAND TALES just might erase it. And not because the director doesn't have any talent. In fact, the movie proves he has loads of it: His eye for detail is impressive, and he takes chances, which is more than you can say about most filmmakers these days. But sadly, Southland Tales is a disjointed, muddled mess.

Ambitious and arresting to the eye -- the gray palette serves the film well -- it's too bad that Southland Tales is also pretentious, chaotic, and tries too hard. How Kelly persuaded the likes of Wallace Shawn, Amy Poehler, Justin Timberlake, Cheri Oteri, and Mandy Moore to go along for the ride is confounding. Bai Ling seems much more the right speed.