Southland Tales is a mess. The plot is basically a Mad Max spin-off: after a nuclear attack, much of the population is concentrated in California, called the Southland. Marxism is on the rise and gasoline is scarce.
Wallace Shawn plays an evil genius who invents a machine to harvest energy from the perpetual motion of waves.
It's an election year and the Marxists want to take down a political party, the energy company is backing somebody or else sabotaging somebody, I'm not sure which. The Rock is somehow involved, as well as Buffy. Both these actors are ludicrous and badly used, but they're not the worst part of the movie. Wallace Shawn is in makeup and hair gel like someone from the government in The Hunger Games. And that's not the worst part either.
The movie has a bit of a Terminator feel, but it is not unrelenting dark. It should be. Instead it moves back and forth between Venice Beach pot smoking, bad music videos, a farce, sci-fi and God knows what else. It is overpowered with SNL alumni, the Poltergeist medium, and all number of bad actors.
I don't even know what to recommend instead of this. How about: Terminator, Road Warrior and the Manchurian Candidate. Start there.
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