Review of California Split (1974) by Jenna I — 03 Jul 2013

Exceptionally seedy tale of two guys who let gambling overtake their lives. That sounds depressing but the film is something of a comedy, especially because it stars Elliott Gould, in rare form as a free-spirited hustler, and George Segal, as a rather more straight-laced magazine editor down on his luck but open to possibilities.

Altman uses 8-track sound (i.e. 8 microphones) to ratchet up the ambience -- lots of overheard and overlapping improvisation going on -- and there are a lot of "authentic" extras here, gambling their lives away.

As I mentioned, the people are seedy, the gambling rooms (apart from Reno) and the track are seedy. There's fighting, part-time prostitution, beer and froot loops, and the dream and desperation of winning big.

However, is that's really what these guys want? Not as great as McCabe and Mrs. Miller or The Long Goodbye -- with less of a plot and possibly more character development -- this is sticking with me the next day.