Kalifornia

Watch it kids, you'll love it.

White thrash movies were always interesting, yet most of them didn't have a lot to say. It was like all of these action thrillers were about the same topics using the same kind of filming tricks we've seen in many flicks of the genre, but hey! sometimes some films make it, and some other just don't. Kalifornia was certainly a film that did make it.

Kalifornia hit the theaters before Pulp Fiction & Natural Born Killers (perhaps two of the most influential films depicting the pulp counter culture) released in 1993, featuring an interesting cast led by David Duchovny (yes, the guy from the X Files) Brad Pitt (in one of his most interesting roles) and the great 90's actress Juliette Lewis.

Directed by Dominic Sena and written by Stephen Levy & Tim Metcalfe (who also did the screenplay) the film is nothing but a a road movie, with a killer on-board. Brian Kessler (David Duchovny), a sophisticated, urban writer, wants to conduct field research on American serial killers (very much like what we see in Natural Born Killers but without the hype) But, neither he, nor his girlfriend, Carrie (gorgeous Michelle Forbes), has the money for a cross-country tour of murder sites, so they advertise for someone to share travel expenses. Who they end up with is a young couple, Early Grayce (Brad Pitt) and his girlfriend, Adele (Juliette Lewis), two better examples of "poor white trash" you will never find in all of cinema.

You don't share your car with anyone, sonny.

Indeed, Early and Adele are what make this film so entertaining, as they babble, cackle, confide, muse, speculate, drool, and otherwise behave in ways I haven't seen since reruns of "The Beverly Hillbillies" Early's idea of California: "People think faster out there, on account of all that warm weather; cold weather makes people stupid" That's enough to convince Adele: "I guess that explains why there are so many stupid people around here" To which Early responds proudly: "It sure does". Early continues to instruct Adele about California: "You never have to buy no fruit, on account it's all on the trees ... and they ain't got no speed limits, and I hear your first month's rent is free, state law".

But poor Early has some, well, mental problems, which become ever more obvious to Brian and Carrie as the four travelers proceed west across the U.S. As they enter the desert Southwest, with its beautifully stark landscape, "Kalifornia" starts to look more and more like "The Hitcher" (1986), and Early starts to act more and more like John Ryder, everyone's maniacal hitchhiker, whose terror seemed so unstoppable.

"You ain't playing with no guns pal"

 

 

 

Bang bang fucker!

How about some tit sucking dear?

Avant garde sex.

In "Kalifornia", the acting is uneven. David Duchovny's performance is flat (I don't know if his character was either meant to be flat, or if Duchovny can't act that good) Brad Pitt is surprisingly effective, despite his overacting at times. Michelle Forbes is great as the avant-garde, photographic artist. But my choice for best performance goes to Juliette Lewis. With her nasal voice and heavy-duty Southern accent, she is stunning, as the naive, highly animated, child-like Adele.

Toward the end, the film takes on a Twilight Zone feel to it, as our travelers enter a Nevada nuclear test site with a dilapidated old house full of test mannequins. The plot eventually dissolves rather messily into the classic violence quota of films of this kind.

Overall, however, "Kalifornia" is an entertaining film, thanks to a clever concept, great scenery, especially in the second half, good cinematography, great dialogue, and that wonderful performance by Juliette Lewis.Definitely this film should get the credit it truly deserves, standing next to other 90's gems such as El Mariachi, Pulp Fiction & Natural Born Killers to name a few.

Here's the cool movie trailer, and as Early Grace would put it "Gotta see a man 'bout a mule"