Kalifornia [Blu-ray]

Very messed up movie, some good acting, I thought David Duchovny was annoying but Pitt was good, Juliette Lewis was great and Michelle Forbes did well also (Marianne from True Blood, also on Star Trek and Guiding Light) irony and murder with a mix of humor provided by Adele's (Lewis) dingbat character

One night I found my two cats and a neighbor's third lying in a rough circle on the driveway, corralling a mole. Each cat seemed lost in his own thoughts, but whenever the mole attempted to capitalize on that distraction and escape the fence of bodies, the nearest feline would take a paw and sweep the rodent back to the center. The mole quivered, wishing, I'm sure, for its protective blanket of earth.The next morning no carcass adorned the concrete. Had the well-fed felines shown mercy and allowed the mole to return to the safety of its burrow? Had they killed and eaten it? I'll never know--and I didn't think again about the incident until I saw "Kalifornia," a movie in which a pair of mole-humans embark on a cross-country car trip with a cat-man.Brian Kessler (David Duchovny) and Carrie Laughlin (Michelle Forbes) live in Pittsburgh, where big-city sprawl creates maze-like paths. Both characters nest in the protection of social obligation; we learn, for example, that good-citizen Brian used a book advance in part to pay the rent. Their work requires that they tunnel into the human psyche: writer Brian explores the impulse to murder while photographer Carrie digs into issues of race and sex. They both compartmentalize these interests: Brian keeps his serial killer notes on labeled cassettes organized in plastic cases; Carrie boxes the provocative subjects of her photos not only with the framing of the camera lens but also by closing her portfolio. The two even look like moles, garbed in black, their sensitive eyes shielded with dark glasses, as they begin a tour of famous murder sites. Accustomed to defined physical and mental spaces, they are ill-prepared for the open-to-anything attitude of their ride-share companion Early Grayce (Brad Pitt), who recognizes no limits of morality, conscience, or law.The dangerous road trip has thrilled audiences since Odysseus made his way home from Troy. A successful update needs to keep us terrified for the well-being of likable characters. To provoke our terror is Early. Unlike his traveling companions, the audience has witnessed his violence. We've seen a random killing of two people so that Early can procure a birthday present for his girlfriend Adele (Juliette Lewis)--an opportunistic grab of red high heels, the tapping of which will get neither the original nor new wearer safely home. We also know Early has murdered his landlord because, unlike Brian, when the rent is due, he doesn't meet his social obligation with a check.Brian, the other male in the car, contributes to our misgivings. We can't look to him for leadership as he quickly develops a bro crush on Early after a night out at a redneck bar and the opportunity to shoot a pistol.Sweet Adele provides excellent counterpoint as she sees only the good in our bad boy. And he has his moments of charm, such as when he buys Adele a cheap, pink camera so that she too can document the trip. Whether her naiveté is the result of low IQ or a defense mechanism to deal with a childhood gang rape, she spills a little sunshine into the darkening picture. We want Early to live up to the hero status she ascribes him--but we sat down to watch a thriller and suspect that he won't.Carrie is too edgy, too dismissive, to be immediately likable. Her style, her photos, her tongue are all sharp, but her disappointment over a gallery rejection and her fondness for Brian, and later Adele, are softening. We have hope that she can save herself and the others as she alone senses danger. Unlike Brian and Adele, both busy in their own heads, Carrie has engaged the openness where Early thrives. She admits to Adele, for example, that she is both photographer and participant in her pictures--pictures that would inspire a Republican congressman to slash funding for the arts. When Carrie speculates that Early may have served time for murder, Brian explains that a parolee would not be allowed to leave the state. Brian cannot conceive of his traveling companion stepping outside of social restrictions. The more experienced Carrie, however, can, for she snaps back, "Maybe he wasn't allowed to leave the state. Did you ever stop to think about that?"The four car occupants are perfectly cast and costumed. The whiskered, grimy Pitt has Early emerge through his skin, not his clothes, like a predator that has just rolled in antelope dung before approaching the herd. Duchovny makes Brian's adoration of Early believable because a trace of exploitable teenager lingers on his face. His ridiculous earrings and immature purchase of a convertible Continental indicate that, despite the intellectual acrobatics, Brian needs props to bolster his young man's insecurity. Lewis keeps Adele consistently childish so that even sex with Early resembles a gleeful four-year-old bouncing on a rocking horse. Athletic and imposing, Forbes can be unconvincing when Carrie needs to sound powerless, but we are glued to her steely eyes and cheer her aggression when, as the violence escalates, Carrie discovers claws of her own. More importantly, Carrie wears ass-kicking boots, not girly shoes, so we trust that she won't trip at an important moment.We want the four of them to reach California, everyone alive and well, but then Carrie and Early catch the news bulletin of the man-hunt for Early, and 40 minutes of white-knuckle suspense ensues. Our own adrenalin pumping, we wonder if Early will deliver the death blow or if our mole-humans, traveling under the open sky, disconnected from their burrow-city, will evolve into creatures who discover in time the animal instincts they need to survive. It's a good ride.

I saw this when it first came out to the movie theaters. I have watched it 3-4 times since. The acting is superb! Brad Pitt plays his evil sociopathic murderer like he was born to it. The innocent naivety of David Duchovny's character is in sharp contrast to Brad Pitt's character. I was surprised to see that the critics only gave this a 6.7/10. Juliette Lewis's character (she played Pitt's child-like girlfriend) is a typical example of women who are so beaten down that they will cling to anyone to feel wanted and loved--yet, she, also, played the strong role of a woman who refuses to lose who she is, although to do that, she had to live in a fantasyland. When she finally wakes up to the world around her--the evil of her boyfriend--she does fight back, a little too late, however. Michelle Forbes was terrific as the photographer girlfriend of Duchovny. I liked the ending, although, I would think the two who survived would have separated after the ordeal they'd gone through. Instead it made them stronger and wise enough to know they can never understand the mind of another. All of them, bouncing their roles off each other in the extreme, can give us insight into how far we are willing to go be fooled by what we think we know, ignoring what is right in front of our faces.

I first saw Kalifornia (1993) back in the mid 90's, and I seem to recall enjoying it much more than I did when I watched it again last night. Has ten years difference changed my perception to the point where I don't like the things I used to? Maybe...but I think what happened here is the novelty of the film wore off a bit...don't get me wrong, I still think it's pretty good, but the flaws seem to stand out a lot more than they used to...directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in Sixty Seconds, Swordfish), the film stars a post Thelma and Louise/pre Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles Brad Pitt, a pre X-Files David Duchovny, Juliette Lewis (What's Eating Gilbert Grape), and Michelle Forbes (Escape from L.A.).Duchovny plays Brian Kessler, a graduate student who, based on a well received magazine article, scores a book deal, and now must actually produce said book (about serial killers) as he's already spent the advance money, but is finding it difficult to get started, as his knowledge and experience is severely limited. He gets the bright idea to actually drive across the country, final destination being California, visiting sites where these atrocities took place, hoping to get a `feel' for what he's writing about. He enlists his girlfriend Carrie (Forbes), an aspiring photographer, to take pictures of the sites to use in the book, and she's only too happy to go along, as she's finding little support for her frank and explicit photos in the heartland, and hopes for better prospects on the west coast. Seeing how the trip will cost some money (and the fact they're driving a late model Lincoln Continental with suicide doors, getting all of about 8 miles to the gallon...good choice for a cross country drive, by the way), they post a notice at the university, hoping to find another couple wanting to go to California and share the expenses. Their ad is answered by the epitome of white trash in Early Grayce (a very shaggy Pitt) and his girlfriend Adele (Lewis), a pair of oakies (as commented by Carrie), but, despite Brian and Carries misgivings, and the fact no one else answered the ad, they begin on their trek. The trip starts of okay, but soon goes down the proverbial toilet as the yuppie couple discover Early is not only a convicted criminal in violation of his parole, but is also an violent, remorseless serial killer, leaving a trail of bodies as the quartet makes their way west (I guess a background check on prospective traveling companions might have be in order prior to embarking on this journey).I guess my biggest problem with this film was there were no likable or identifiable characters...Brian and Carrie are a pair of pretentious, intellectual snobs, with Carrie obviously the more dominant of the pair, Brian the type to attempt to put up a meager front, but often acquiescing to his much stronger willed, somewhat masculine, girlfriend. I do like Duchovny in a number of things I've seen him in, but his effeminate side tends to make his character here seem weak and malleable, which works for the story as he actually begins to look up to Early and his brutish characteristics as part of some creepy form of male bonding (which later turns to bondage). Given his apparent level of intelligence, you'd think he would be past this kind of childish hero worship, but not so...Carrie comes across as the dominant feminista type, constantly forcing her opinion down Brian's throat, whether he asks for it or not, often throwing hissy fits when coming across things that don't fit within her realm of sensibility, despite the fact that her photographs, which tend to be extremely sexually explicit, would put off all but the most opened minded. If you met her character in person, your first impression towards her sexual orientation would be that of a lesbian, but then given how much of a woman Duchovny's character is, they seem to fit together pretty well. And then there's Adele...one of the more annoying cinematic characters I've witnessed in a long time. Her mental state is that of a 4 year old, constantly blathering on and on about the most inane minutia, living in denial about the true nature of her boyfriend and the very real fact he's a cold blooded killer. In this respect Lewis did well, but I honestly didn't feel like she extended herself too much for her part, as I imagine her to be much like this in real life. Finally there's Early, played very well by Pitt. He is what he is, and you'd be pretty unobservant not to be able to see that...you might not realize he's a killer, but spending any amount of time with him, one would get a sense he's capable of savage brutality, a sense that violence is as natural to him as breathing. Pitt's the real reason to see this film, as he puts himself into character about as thoroughly and completely. I thought director Sena did a very good job, using location shots to effectively convey the proper feeling of the particular scene, but the film could have been cut by about ten or fifteen minutes, as it tended to drag a little (the film runs just shy of two hours).The picture quality on this DVD is excellent as is the audio, and features both the widescreen (1.85.1) and fullscreen pan and scan versions. Also included is the option to watch the unrated version of the film, which is about a minute longer. Other special features included are the theatrical trailer, a lame `making of' featurette, and a short booklet insert with production notes, which tells us the reason they used the letter `K' in the title was because there was already a film titled California, released in the 40's, and wasn't meant to reflect any `deeper' meaning.Cookieman108

This is a great classic serial killer thriller, not dissimilar in style to Natural Born Killers and early works from Quentin Tarantino in some ways. It's a very violent story and handles this very well without being gratuitous to create some very tense and uncomfortable situations, as well as a very hazy atmosphere of mistrust and uncertainty which really adds to the dark feel of the film.Brad Pitt as the main serial killer is absolutely brilliant in this film - really believable in every part of his portrayal of an unhinged Badlands sort and Juliette Lewis delivers a good performance for the kind of role she is very good at and known best for as his equally unhinged part-victim-part-accomplice who travels across America with him and their initially unwitting traveling companions.

Edit: I ordered a new copy from a separate seller and got a much better copy of this DVD which I am really happy with, so thank you. This movie is great and is really interesting, to say the least, I don't think you'll be disappointed with this one. Brad Pitt does great in this one!(Old Review) > But this copy was a huge letdown. The fact that it's in Italian is fine since you can watch it in English also. But the display format is way too low and compressed. So it's just a small screen, and not in full screen which just makes it so unbearable to watch, which is disappointing.

Astonishingly, it took me twenty years to get around to watching this film. I remembered that a few friends had urged me to see it when it first came out, but then it seemed to fall off the radar. But I had definitely noticed how it regularly seemed to be included in advertising campaigns by the big retailers, so I figured it must have built up a strong fan-base.The story concerns young urban intellectual photographer Brian (David Duchovny, just before TV series X-Files went massive) and his girlfriend Carrie (Michelle Forbes), who set off to drive to California via the US southern states visiting murder sites to take pictures and do research to maybe write a book. To help pay for the petrol, Brian advertises for companions to join them on the trip. Carrie has misgivings when she first meets Early Grayce (Brad Pitt) and his diner waitress girlfriend (Juliette Lewis), but Brian insists everything will be okay....Struggling to find any common ground, the two couples share some awkward moments. Then Early's violent nature abruptly emerges, and the terrified Brian and Carrie realise they don't need to go very far to learn about ruthless killers, because they are already face-to-face with one. There are several outstanding and utterly convincing character performances in this film. Quite rightly it remains an 18 certificate (despite many other films having been re-classified during intervening years), since some of the violence is intensely unpleasant to watch or contemplate. Although there are a few scattered lighter moments throughout the film, they merely serve as preparation for the next nerve-shocking episode.Despite seemingly not being a prolifically busy movie director, Dominic Sena has gone on to direct several other well received films, including Gone In Sixty Seconds (Nicholas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall); Swordfish (John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry); and Season Of The Witch (Nicholas Cage, Ron Perlman, Claire Foy). Audiences familiar with those films will recognise a similar pacing as the plot develops and unfolds. Recommended.

This is a very dark film in contrast to the bright sunshine of the cinematography. Everything is right about it. The Cinematography, the pace, the script, the casting, the scenery. There is shocking violence in the film, but it is about the relationship of four people in a restricted environment, one of whom is a serial killer. The violent scenes are necessary and not excessive. How Michelle Forbes is not doing more work is the great mystery of this film. Effectively the four main protagonists are the four leading actors. No one overacts and there are balanced performaces from all four. An overlooked gem.

Dreary poor quality movie that has long since passed its sell-by date.Movies have moved on a long way from this type of stilted acting/cinematography. I did not enjoy the movie even though it promised so much. You may like it. It was cheap to buy it is worth a punt. But, not for me.