ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

xchintu Brad pitt alone can be the reason to watch this film. He shines in this, one of his career best performance. Won't tell you anything about it at all. Let it hit you raw as it did to me. Just do yourself a favour and watch it. It's totally worth it. Great story, performance, direction and magnificent brad pitt.

NateWatchesCoolMovies Dominic Sena's Kalifornia is a brilliantly vicious dark fable, a moody cautionary tale regarding the dangers of trust, the true nature of the sociopath and the ironic way in which demons sneak up on us while we are to busy looking for them with our backs turned. It's also damn fine thriller filmmaking and fits nicely into a subgenre which I happen to be an avid fan of: the American road movie. The highways, byways and back roads of desolate rural USA have a bitter menace that clouds the air like the desert dust kicked up by many a vehicle on their way through. There's endless possibility out there, for great and terrible evil, in a place where help is always a county away and opportunity looms on the horizon like the bloated California sun. From The Hitcher, to U Turn, to Thelma & Louise, to Duel and everything in between, it's a setting that hums with cinematic potential. David Duchovney and Michelle Forbes play a yuppie couple who unwittingly wander into the path of extreme danger. Duchovney is a writer who is working on a book about American serial killers. Their journey takes them to many bloodstained locales where incidents took place. Eventually they decide to carpool with rugged redneck Earley Grayce (Brad Pitt), and his bimbo girlfriend Adele Corners (Juliette Lewis) whose IQ appears to be lower than the cut of her blouse. The two couples couldn't be more different, yet get on well enough. Slowly it becomes clear that there's something very off about Earley though, noticed keenly by Forbes's intuition. Duchovney is enamored by the tumbleweed hick, and thinks he's made a friend. He's half right, and not even in the way he thinks. The film takes its time letting Earley's true nature emerge, Pitt slowly detaches and unravels until the tarp is fully torn off and we see the sociopathic monster within. All set in abandoned clusters of former Americana and given slick, almost action movie direction from Sena, it's not one to miss for any fan of a crackling psychological thriller.

johnklem Revisiting Swordfish recently, also directed by Dominic Sena and which I thoroughly enjoyed despite its occasional shortcomings, I read a negative review which suggested that Sena hadn't made a decent movie since Kalifornia and which wondered why that was. As a public school educated Brit living in Los Angeles, I am oddly drawn to movies featuring white trash, trailer parks and all the other paraphernalia of the underbelly of America. The French have the same issue. Paris may be the only place on earth in which a Corvette is actually cool. Back to Kalifornia. I revisited the film the other day and was disappointed. It's not a bad flick. Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis act their socks off and they're well supported by David Duchovny and Michelle Forbes. But therein lies part of the problem. A stronger director would have reined in Lewis and Pitt, allowed for a better balance. As it is, their performances border on the comic. They stay grounded because they're both terrific actors but they sometimes distract from rather than add to the tension. The other problem is the central conceit. We're going on a tour of infamous murder sites... with a murderer. We know he's a psychopathic killer from the start but his companions don't. And that places us firmly in standard horror flick territory. DON'T TAKE THE SHORTCUT THROUGH THE WOODS!! But of course she does. And that's the issue here. It devalues the film. It might have been a much better film without the addition of the tour of murder sites. Less is more, people. Worth watching? Yes, but you'll have to deal with the frustration of missed opportunities. Try Swordfish instead. It's aged rather well.

david-sarkies This is the first movie that I have seen that Erbert has given four stars. He raves about how well this movie was made and how realistic the characters are. I wouldn't give it a score that high, but I do agree that the characters in this movie are really well done. Atlantic Video (my video store, excellent place for cheap videos, and they have a huge selection) labels this as an action, and others say that it is a thriller. I would consider this movie to be a psychological examination of people. It exposes us to the harsh reality of life and is far for falling into the category of mainstream Hollywood. I first heard of this movie when it was advertised in the Mercury Cinema, the old alternative cinema in Adelaide.My gripe is the character of Brian Kessler (David Duchovney). There is nothing wrong with the character itself, but it reminded me a lot of agent Mulder. The twist between Kessler and Mulder is that Kessler considers himself a psychologist but he is not. His ambition is to write a book on serial killers and why the do what they do. Kessler knows that he cannot learn about serial killers by sitting in a library so he decides to go to California with his girlfriend, Carrie Laughlin (Michelle Forbes) and on the way there visit the sights of famous serial killers to try and uncover why serial killers do what they do. Kessler realises at the end of the movie that he has absolutely no idea as to why they do what they do. After his experience with Early he realises that some people do things because they want to.This brings us to Early (Brad Pitt). Brad Pitt's portrayal of Early is brilliant. Upon seeing this one comes to the conclusion that Brad Pitt does know how to act. Beyond this is the character of Early. Kessler does not understand why Early is the way he is but it seems to me that Early just does not perceive anything beyond his own experience. He does not see that there are repercussions for his actions. Erbert says that Early is intelligent, but I disagree. Early does things on the spur of the moment and never plans his actions. He needs money so he kills a man with lots of money. He just doesn't care that he just killed somebody, and this comes from a man who has probably done it a lot before.Adele Corners (Juliette Lewis) is a very well developed character. She is a character that lives in a dream world and believes everything that is told her. She is a child that was thrust into adulthood quite violently. She does not want to grow up so she remains a child at heart. She has a preconceived idea about who Early is and she does not want to believe that he is anything else, even if she is confronted by it.Kalifornia is a movie about reality. It is two couples from different backgrounds who have come together and are influenced by each other. Brian slowly becomes influenced by Early while Adele becomes influenced by Carrie. We notice something when Adele enters the restaurant with her hair cut, and slowly she becomes to look more like Carrie. The only differences are the clothes. Carrie dresses very dark and wears trousers while Adele wear scanty dresses. This is a movie about the way people behave and how some people are just evil.