Director Richard Kelly Looks Back on Dwayne Johnson's Unexpected Performance in 'Southland Tales'
became a beloved cult classic, helping to launch Jake Gyllenhaal’s acting career, director Richard Kelly’s follow-up,, did not enjoy the same fate. In fact, the ensemble dystopian drama about a pornstar turned media mogul (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a movie star suffering from amnesia (Dwayne Johnson), twin cops (Seann William Scott) and many, many others getting mixed up in a battle between authoritarian government agencies and Marxist organizations was booed out of the Cannes Film Festival when it premiered in 2006. Despite its poor reception at the time, not everyone was left scathed by the film, particularly Johnson, who showed considerable range as Boxer Santaros, who finds himself at the center of overlapping conspiracy theories.