Writer-director Richard Kelly delivers a kamikaze, science-fiction political satire that involves, as one character says, a “rift in the fourth dimension.” Mostly, though, the movie plays like a rift in Kelly’s mind. Set in an alternate universe of endless war, terrorist groups and Big Brother government, this is meant to mirror what Kelly sees as the apocalyptic nuttiness of our own moment in space-time. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays an action star who is kidnapped by an underground political group, while Sarah Michelle Gellar plays the porn actress who brainwashes him. There are countless others, as well as a few stunning dance sequences, suggesting a full-blown musical may be in Kelly’s future – if we get there.
