Kalifornia (1993)

Kalifornia (1993)

I finally saw this film. I had to do it one day! To make it more informative, here’s a brief mention of the actors and directors. The film features Juliette Lewis and Brad Pitt, directed by Dominic Sena.

It’s good, but not excellent. Typical 90s with good direction, an interesting story, excellent actors and a dose of sex and extreme violence.

Not necessarily for those who like road movies, more for those who like disturbing films.

Brad Pitt plays the psychopath to perfection. He is simply chilling. Probably one of his most disgusting roles in which he spits on the prairie. I don’t know how he manages to look so natural in all his roles. Brad’s always one of the best when he’s ugly, gruff and completely bonkers (12 Monkeys, Snatch, Fight Club…). But we can’t stand Juliette Lewis, always complaining and crying. But let’s bear in mind that she’s mentally retarded here and that the last few seconds of the very last scene are really touching thanks to her. Funny when you consider that that same year she starred in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? where it was DiCaprio who brilliantly played the mentally retarded.

Some have said and others will say that Juliette Lewis isn’t as good as the story deserves, but this isn’t Natural Born Killers (1994) (which she made the following year, incidentally, and which is a fairly similar film in some respects).

The ending is no great surprise. A lot of people know, unfortunately, how it’s all going to end. For those who like brutal road movies, yes, I would recommend this film!

As far as I’m concerned, it’s far from brilliant. It’s gripping and worth seeing once, but definitely not one to have in my collection.

Three years after Too Young to Die (1990), which I think is even worse, Brad & Juliette (then a couple) get together again in a crazy, totally degenerate film!

As for David Duchovny, he appeared in this film the same year The X-Files began!
It’s worth noting that he did the voice of Special Agent Fox Mulder in the Simpsons episode dedicated to the series in 1997.

Here we see him in a sex scene worthy of his performance in Californication, which would appear 14 years later. And Californication isn’t spelled with a K, unlike this film, which wanted to make the title even more snappy and intriguing.

Californication was the fourth single to be taken from the Red Hot Chili Peppers album of the same name, released on 8 June 1999, and the funny thing is that, by the merest chance, I saw this film in the middle of June… even though the action also takes place during that month. Except for the last scene, which takes place in November.

Michelle Forbes is also great in this role. I don’t know much more about her than that, but she was in the remake of a series I really liked, but which wasn’t finished, given that it wasn’t a hit. I’m talking, of course, about The Returned (2015), which made Michelle the fourth excellent star of the series, alongside the already excellent trio of Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Agnes Bruckner and Jeremy Sisto. Still, it was incredible potential to have actors like that together. All in all, a good thriller.

A good thriller, no more, no less, neither very good nor very bad.The serial killer theme has been a recurring motif in Hollywood for some time now, even if many of the corresponding productions don’t treat the subject with the necessary depth. “Kalifornia” certainly falls into this group, but can certainly be considered one of the best contributions. And even if the four main characters aren’t necessarily overflowing with credibility, that doesn’t change their talents. Even so, this bloody road-movie has its extremely powerful moments that inevitably captivate the viewer.

Dominic Sena is not an extraordinary director. For the record, he made Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Swordfish (2001) and Whiteout (2009). These are all films that deserve three stars. Kalifornia is a raging film, a surprising debut from Sena, who went on to focus on calibrated products, without necessarily losing his talent as an action director, but with a loss of personality.

A gloomy, sordid atmosphere. Surprising, captivating, disturbing, almost a horror film with its many scenes of night, rain and flashing neon lights worthy of traditional film noir. And let’s not forget all that blood!