Tideland - Does weird necessarily mean good?

I'm writing this review after my third viewing of `Tideland' - a film by acclaimed director, Terry Gilliam. If you're familiar with him (and his `ex Monty Python roots') you'll know that his films are always - to put it mildly - a little `off centre.'

Tideland is no exception. It's about a young girl who, after both her drug addict parents die, seeks refuge in both an abandoned farm house and her imagination (which consists of talking doll heads and squirrels). It certainly is different and it has numerous good points. First of all is the young actress who has the hefty task of carrying the film almost single-handedly. She plays the part brilliantly (and quite beyond her years) as she portrays a girl with a troubled past who has only really got her imagination to keep her going. She does meet a few others along the way and their acting is also top notch, too. No one can say that Terry Gilliam doesn't get the best out of his cast.

Then you have the direction itself. It's brilliant. Gilliam uses every shot to get the most out of the location and he manages to create a truly weird, wonderful and dreamlike state to set the movie in.
However, if you've seen his other films - Brazil and Twelve Monkeys - you'll know that Brazil was a success because it had such an excellent script which moved the story ever onwards. Twelve Monkeys was primarily a mystery concerning what happened to the planet. But where Tideland falls down is in the story. There isn't one.

Yes, it's weird and wonderful, but it's effectively a series of bizarre (and brilliantly filmed) scenes which don't really go anywhere.

It's certainly not a bad film, but the reason I've watched it for a third time is because I'd forgotten what happened completely. This could be down to the lack of real story for me to actually remember.
If you like weird, wonderful and arthouse-like films, you'll love this. Just don't go hoping for too much in the way of a story.

8/10 stars for acting and direction. 6/10 for the story.