Kalifornia

• Rating:
• Genre: Crime
• Movie Type: Road Movie, Crime Thriller
• Themes: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Serial Killers, Lovers on the Lam
• Director: Dominic Sena
• Main Cast: Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, Michelle Forbes, Sierra Pecheur
• Release Year: 1993
• Country: US
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

This debut feature film from music video director Dominic Sena is a romp through the world of serial killing, which in its bleakness and moral bankruptcy looks backwards to Terrence Malick's Badlands and forward to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Michelle Forbes plays hip, Mapplethorpe-esque photographer Carrie Laughlin, who wants to move to California for a fresh start. Her boyfriend, Brian Kessler (David Duchovny), is a writer who has an idea for a new book, a travel tome on the sites of serial murders. The two plan to go on a cross-country tour of the murder sites, with Brian writing the commentary and Carrie taking the pictures. But they need a couple to share the driving expenses; enter Grayce (Brad Pitt) and his girlfriend, Adele (Juliette Lewis, in a warm-up for her role in Natural Born Killers). Grayce is an ex-con looking to jump parole, while Adele is a childlike naïf. Soon the four are off to California, but the yuppie couple doesn't realize how close they are to their serial killer topic. It seems Grayce has murdered his landlord before their trip and bodies begin piling up disturbingly behind them as they make their way across the country. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Review

Half-assed in its edginess but full-on trashy, this blood-drenched road movie features an over-the-top Brad Pitt in his Method actor phase; a dead-on Juliette Lewis as yet another special-ed Lolita; a pre-X-Files David Duchovny warming up his Fox Mulder persona; and an icy Michelle Forbes as a castrating intellectual poseur. Pitt's Early Grayce is the most unlikely and over-the-top collection of cheekbones, tics, abs, and guttersnipe slang ever to grace the silver screen. The actor allegedly broke a tooth while opening a beer bottle with his teeth to get into character, and such dedication shows in every nasal snort and lascivious leer. Duchovny's Brian Kessler narrates with incessant banality, lending more sympathy to the serial-killer antagonist than to his own stupid yuppie self. Lewis shows off her considerable skills in a role designed to be sexy, tacky, and pitiable at the same time, while Forbes is a study in minimalism -- all scowl, severe bangs, and artistic pretension. Dominic Sena, who moved from music videos to Kalifornia to a career as a would-be action auteur, infuses each frame of his film with flashy shades of dread, but he never achieves the disturbing grittiness of later Pitt vehicle Seven or even the amphetamine overkill of the Lewis-starring Natural Born Killers. In fact, Kalifornia actually works better as a comedy: a violent and bitchy update of the mixed-doubles scenarios that powered such classic sitcoms as The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy. Oh, that wacky murderer and his ditsy girlfriend. Oh, that pseudo-transgressive photographer and her sensitive new age guy. Put 'em together and you have a movie that's entertaining in spite of itself -- one that exposes the shallowness of urban hipsterdom by wallowing in the supposed depravities of the trailer-park set. Not exactly a light or unlifting viewing experience, but hey -- it's a lot more fun than watching Anthony Hopkins cook Ray Liotta's brains. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Brad Pitt - Early Grayce
• Juliette Lewis - Adele Corners
• David Duchovny - Brian Kessler
• Michelle Forbes - Carrie Laughlin
• Sierra Pecheur - Mrs. Musgrave

Gregory Mars Martin - Walter Livesay; Judson Vaughn - Parole Officer; David Rose - Eric; John Dullaghan - Mr.Musgrave; Lois Hall - Mrs.Musgrave; Ron Kuhlman - Male Officer; Catherine Larson - Teenage Girl; Brett Rice - Police Officer; John Zarchen - Peter; Pat Golden; Patricia Sill - Carol; Carol Lewis; Meredith Brasher - Kim; David Milford - Driver; Eric Stenson - Young Cracker; Mary Ann Hagen - Waitress

Credit

Stephen Levy - Screenwriter; Bojan Bazelli - Cinematographer; Lynn Bigelow - Executive Producer; Michelle Buhler - Makeup; Carter Burwell - Composer (Music Score); Steve Golin - Producer; Martin Hunter - Editor; M. James Kouf Jr. - Executive Producer; Tim Metcalfe - Screenwriter; Dominic Sena - Director; Sigurjon Sighvatsson - Producer; Kate J. Sullivan - Set Designer; Gregory Goodman - Producer; Kristine J. Schwarz - Co-producer; Thomas Patrick Smith - First Assistant Director; Carol Lewis - Casting; Kevin Bartnof - Foley Artist; Eric Mofford - First Assistant Director; Michael White - Production Designer; Jeff Mann - Art Director

Similar Movies

Badlands; Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw; The Devil Thumbs a Ride; Guncrazy; Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer; The Hitcher; True Romance; Wild at Heart; Bloody Kids; Natural Born Killers; Love and a .45; Normal Life; Kiss or Kill; Dance with the Devil; Criminal Lovers; The Learning Curve; By Hook Or By Crook; Paranoid; Where Sleeping Dogs Lie

• Artist: Movie Soundtrack
• Flags: Soundtrack
• Type: Soundtrack
• Rating:
• Styles: Soundtracks, Pop/Rock
• Similar Albums: A Bunch O' Hits: The Best Rock of the 90's, Vol. 1, Empire Records, Natural Born Killers [Original Soundtrack], Silent All These Years [#2], Rise Above, It's Not the Size That Counts, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost, Troublegum, Reality Bites, Hips and Makers, August and Everything After, Music

Review

An undistinguished rock sampler, the highlights of which are X's "Lettuce And Vodka" and David Baerwald's "Born For Love." Score composer Carter Burrell is restricted to one, moody track. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	iTunes	Composers	Performers	Time
Do You Need Some?	...	Matt Mercado	Mind Bomb	(6:25)
Unfilfilled	...		Quicksand	(3:23)
Deep	...		East 17	(4:04)
When You Come Back	...	Kevn Kinney, Buren Fowler, Jeff Sullivan	Drivin' N' Cryin'	(3:00)
No One Said It Would Be Easy	...	Sheryl Crow, Bill Bottrell, Kevin Gilbert, Dan Schwartz	Sheryl Crow	(5:29)
I Love the World	...	Angelique Bianca	The Indians	(5:36)
Lettuce and Vodka	...	Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Duke McVinnie	X	(5:05)
Accelerator	...	Andy Cairns, Fyfe Ewing, Michael McKeegan	Therapy?	(2:08)
Born for Love	...	David Baerwald	David Baerwald	(6:17)
Dive Bomber	...	Sean Dickson	The Soup Dragons	(2:44)
Look up to the Sky	...	Angelique Bianca	The Indians	(7:20)
Kalifornia/Cactus Girl	...	Carter Burwell		(4:11)

Credits

David Baerwald (Producer), David Baerwald (Performer), Drivin' N' Cryin' (Producer), Drivin' N' Cryin' (Performer), The Soup Dragons (Performer), X (Performer), David Torn (Guitar), Quicksand (Performer), Therapy? (Producer), Therapy? (Performer), Sheryl Crow (Performer), East 17 (Performer), The Indians (Performer), Mind Bomb (Producer), Mind Bomb (Performer), Scott Ansell (Engineer), H. Beno (Producer), H. Beno (Mixing), Tony Berg (Producer), Tchad Blake (Mixing), Bill Bottrell (Producer), Bill Bottrell (Engineer), Bill Bottrell (Mixing), William Bottrell (Producer), William Bottrell (Engineer), Matt Budd (Engineer), Carter Burwell (Keyboards), Bryan Carlstrom (Engineer), Critter (Producer), Critter (Mixing), Ian Curnow (Producer), Ian Curnow (Mixing), Marius de Vries (Producer), Marius de Vries (Mixing), Sean Dickson (Producer), Sean Dickson (Mixing), Hearn Gadbois (Percussion), Geoffrey Gordon (Percussion), Steve Haigler (Producer), Steve Haigler (Engineer), Steve Haigler (Mixing), Phil Harding (Producer), Phil Harding, Phil Harding (Mixing), Dave Jerden (Producer), Dave Jerden (Mixing), Casey McMackin (Engineer), Max Norman (Producer), Erik Sanko (Bass), Chris Sheldon (Producer), Chris Sheldon (Engineer), Chris Sheldon (Mixing), Sean Sickson (Producer), Therapy (Producer), Geoff Workman (Producer), Geoff Workman (Engineer), Geoff Workman (Mixing), Dana K. Sano (Music Coordinator), Barklie K. Griggs (Music Coordinator), Adam Maffei (Music Coordinator), Sharon Boyle (Music Consultant), Adam Smalley (Editing)

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