Kalifornia (1997, DVD)

I had watched Kalifornia back when it came out in 1993 and loved it, so when we happened across it at Blockbusters last night and Nick said he'd never heard of it..well.. we had to rent it. This is one of those movies. You know the ones. the ones where you think everyone in the country should see it because it's just that good.

I suppose I should qualify my feelings here. My background is in Criminology, Serial Killers in particular..so movies like this peak my interest, but I don't automatically love them. I find flaws in most depictions. Now, while I would not classify Brad Pitt's character as a Serial Killer in this, it was an excellent depiction of a Spree Killer. So once you get past the errant classification, this is a fantastic movie.

Brian Kessler is a Grad Student studying Serial Killers, but he feels like he needs to get into their heads so he can write a book. His girlfriend, Carrie Laughlin, is a photographer who is getting rejection after rejection and feels a move to California will open up the world to both of them. Brian decides sure, why not, and along the way they can stop at various sites where infamous killings took place to record their impressions and take pictures for Brian's book.

There's just one hitch: lack of fundage. Brian tacks a note on the university bulletin board for someone to come along and share expenses. Enter Early Grayce and Adele Corners. Early is on parole for who knows what, and Adele is his backwards girlfriend. They are about to be evicted from their trailer. Early's parole officer sends him to get a job as a janitor at the University, where Early spies Brian's note.

Here begins a journey in which Brian gets more than he bargained for in his quest to get into the minds of killers.... he's just offered a ride to one.

David Duchovny is an excellent Brian. This character is written very close to the Fox Mulder personae of the X-Files which was beginning the same time as this movie was shot. Easy one for Duchovny to pull off. They're the same character. No reaching here, but perfect just the same. Duchovny gives Brian an easy-going kinda accepting attitude. I didn't much care for the character when first introduced as he was expounding to friends on the injustice of putting poor misunderstood Serial Killers to death. Yeah. As things progress though, we get a much better feel for Brian's over-all schema (personal world-view) and that earlier conversation is put into better context with relation to him. This part was very well written and very well played. Bravo! The only thing I did not like was the hair. It was huge and puffy at first! Ewwwwww!

Michelle Forbes plays Brian's photographer girlfriend, Carrie. I do not like this actress or this character. Carrie is a bit of a controlling hystrionic type. She grates on my nerves to the Nth degree. If she isn't whining, she's demanding. I had no sympathy at all for what happened to this character. None. Perhaps if this had been played less intensely, I would have felt for her. Forbes just didn't pull this off for me. But then, I didn't like her as Ro Laren in TV's Star Trek: The Next Generation either.

Brad Pitt is an excellent Early Grayce. Grayce is one of those folks who figure the rules are not for them. He lives life how he wants and damn the laws. He is, as Brian stated when he first saw Early, the epitome of white trailer trash...down to the filthy jeans and unwashed longish hair and attitude. What Brian doesn't know at first (but the viewer knows pretty quickly) is that Early is also a killer. Pitt is just so perfect in this role. He's been dissed throughout his career for being a 'pretty boy', but this guy can act. From comedy (The Mexican) to drama (Fight Club), to this role as a killer..he nails it. Pitt's Early is spot-on in his nervous ticks and eye movements. I get the feeling he studied his subject well in preparation for this role. The character's actions and reactions are very well written. This was a text book Spree Killer.

Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers, From Dusk Till Dawn, Cape Fear 1991) plays Early's girlfriend, Adele. Now Adele I could sympathize with. This is a gal who has been brought up poor and been thru extreme trauma. To her, Early is a strong protector. She tries to block out any evidence of him as he really is, and uses various classic ego-defense mechanisms to keep from facing the truth. Lewis is very good at this type of role. she is so good at the innocent not-quite-all-there girlfriend that one wonders about her in real life. That is good acting.

This was only Director Dominic Sena's second film. Very impressive. I don't know how he ended up pulling such a great cast..but kudos to him! With the exception of Michelle Forbes, he could not have picked better folks for these roles...and he got top notch performances out of them. His other films are Rythym Nation, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Swordfish, and due out this year (2003) is A Normal Life.

This DVD comes with both the Rated R and the unrated version, we watched the unrated. But, there is only a difference of one minute between the two, and I have no idea which one minute that is. Either way, it is graphic violence, sexual scenes, and of course language. Your call. I say easily 16 and up, younger depending on your own particular child.

I most definitely recommend this movie to folks who are into this type of thing... students of criminology, fans of any of the stars, and folks who like to be creeped out. heh. This one will make you jump a few times. Gotta love it.