christopher-underwood It's more than twenty years since I last saw this and I didn't really remember anything. Not even how violent it was, not even that it had a serial killer theme. I just remembered that it was a film to watch again some time because it was great. And so it is. Clearly not for everyone, this is one hell of a violent road movie with Brad Pitt in crashing, cruelly uncaring and at time even incoherently hateful and his little lady by his side, Juliette Lewis. We have seen her do her Southern, waif like kiddie stuff before but here she is allowed to go full throttle and so we have the most disturbing couple. Wild and horrific Brad and 'he only whips me if I deserve it' Juliette. Not an easy ride then but David Duchovny seems not too put out, certainly at first. He's already started up the Red Shoes Diary machine, about to become a real star through X-Files and Brad Pitt freaking out isn't going to ruffle his feathers, well at first anyway. Possibly a tad long, some have criticised the prolonged and crunchingly violent ending but if you fancy an off the wall road movie featuring one of Brad Pitt's best performances plus Juliette Lewis doing what she does best and then some, you can't do better than watch this mini classic

Bele Torso Rate this move a 8 of 10 the first hour: People over-think this movie. It is not about the nuances of story, it is about the enmeshment of characters. The premise is interesting and I'm not going to outline this as most wannabe movie critics here do. This movie is about odd couples taking a road trip. The Yuppie Vs the Hick. Perfect casting. Not for a moment do we grapple that these people are not who they represent. Two couples who would never do time together are in close proximity for a week. What Pitt does masterfully is represent the dog living in the moment in contrast to the thinker played by Duchovny. Michelle Forbes is powerful...not sure why she didn't become an A-list dramatic actress (she did a Seinfeld episode after this!). Lewis plays this role to perfection--she owns this role! Pitt is at times too good. It is hard not to think that he has to have a lot of Early in him. Rate this move a 5 of 10 after the shift change: I think the directorial mistake was the gas station scene when Early is discovered. The movie would have been much more effective with Early left undiscovered. If Carrie watched the news report of the previous gas station murder and the TV went static she would have had suspicion and the drama would have added slowly like a great baseball game. Early could have been discovered later on when Brian realized the men he was trying to understand for his writing project was the man he was driving with. One of those Aha moments. The energy popped after the discovery and then we had little to hang onto for another hour. I'm sure a lot of the negative comments come after this energy shift.

Scott LeBrun What goes on in the mind of a serial killer? What is it, really, that separates "us" from "them"? More importantly, what is with the fascination that so many of us have for true crime stories and deviant individuals? What does it take to change a persons' opinion on the subject? These are questions that this grim, stylish, intelligent drama asks as it plays out. It offers interesting roles to a talented quartet of performers, and is very straightforward with the way it portrays acts of violence.David Duchovny plays Brian Kessler, a writer with a fixation on serial killers who's gotten an advance to write a book about them. With his photographer girlfriend Carrie Laughlin (Michelle Forbes) in tow, he embarks on a road trip of research as he travels across America to visit the sites of various crimes. The two of them get closer to their subject matter than they could have imagined when they hook up with dirt poor trailer trash couple Early Grayce (Brad Pitt) and Adele Corners (Juliette Lewis). Early, you see, is a vicious sociopath who does some awful things without feeling any remorse about them.One major theme of the film is the evolution of the Brian character. He starts out as pretty liberal when it comes to the serial killer topic and is forced to realize the fact that - as he says near the end - that any one of us *is* capable of taking another humans' life if properly motivated. There's not really that much separation, after all."Kalifornia" is one of those films that works on both the intellectually stimulating and visceral levels. It's fascinating to watch, even as it deliberately paces itself for close to two hours. Pitt is excellent, truly disappearing inside his role and enjoying playing the different aspects to this killer. Lewis is fine as a sweet, simple girl; this part of hers is intriguing when you contrast it to the one she plays in the next years' "Natural Born Killers". Duchovny and Forbes are believable as they do the bulk of the reacting in this film.Hailed by some as a serial killer story for the thinking person, this is a ride well worth taking.Eight out of 10.

BA_Harrison Why the K? I don't know, but then I don't really understand who the intended audience for this film is either. It's not extreme enough to appease fans of disturbing cinema, not cerebral or cool enough for art-house types, nor is it mainstream enough to appeal to the general public; it's there, treading a fine line between all three—frustrating, because Kalifornia has plenty of potential, and if director Dominic Sena had just chosen one definitive route to take, the film might have been a great addition to the serial killer genre instead of an average one.The plot explores several fascinating themes—class divide, the allure of danger and violence, psychotic behaviour and the complexities of the brain—but Sena's indecisive approach means that he only lightly addresses each issue, and often in a trite and predictable manner. A dreary narration from David Duchovny's obnoxious yuppie is intended to make events seem more profound, but only serves to make the film seem highly pretentious. Sena's glossy visuals give an 80s music video vibe (not that surprising given his previous work with Janet Jackson) which seriously jars with the content.Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis' memorable performances ensure that the film isn't a total waste of time, both actors taking 'poor white trash' to a whole new (and sometimes hilarious) level, and there are one or two effectively shocking outbursts of violence, but this is an ultimately empty experience that says much less about its subject matter than it would have you believe.