10 Comedy Movies Audiences Walked Out Of

6. Southland Tales

Swiss Army Man
Darko Entertainment

It's safe to say that Richard Kelly was a hot prospect after his first movie (Donnie Darko) was released. Say what you will about the twisted sci-fi classic, but it certainly made a huge impact on cinema. Thus, it seemed the director's next project would be a barnstormer too, but sadly, it was dead on arrival.

Southland Tales is a bizarre sci-fi thriller comedy which brought together the powerhouses of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Sean William Scott and Sarah Michelle Geller - the dream team, together at last? It followed multiple characters in a futuristic dystopia satirising celebrity culture, corporations and the military-industrial complex. It sure sounds like a right laugh.

You can undoubtedly call the film ambitious and still admire Kelly for his attempts to make such a convoluted picture, knowing that casual cinema-goers might struggle to follow it. But that didn't make its debut at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival anywhere near successful.

The movie was so poorly received that Roger Ebert even described being "deafened by the boos". But, of course, not all the audience members were there to voice their displeasure, as plenty had already walked out. It seems people expected better of the Donnie Darko creator.

Contributor

Michael is my name, overanalysing comedy is my game! Anime, wrestling, TV, movies and video games all live in my head rent free!