Review of Kalifornia (1993) by Edgar C — 11 Sep 2009

David Duchovny; Robot in disguise? After seeing this weak movie I'm seriously wondering if he is. Unable to be anything else but Agent Mulder, this time he does battle with an evil, murderous redneck played by... Brad Pitt. Hm. So from the very outset there is really very little attracting anyone to watch this film. The storyline is very weak. The characters feel EXTREMELY unrealistic, particularly Duchovny, who, despite all the evidence to the contrary and his wifes desperate pleas, goes along for most of the movie thinking that Pitt is your friendly run of the mill girlfriend-beater. Once again, hm. Juliette Lewis gets slightly irritating, but does perform her role as good as it can get. However, her character also seems over the top. We don't for a second believe that anyone would be THAT niave and childish, especially when she seems to have a perfectly good understanding of sex and some over adult concepts. Her pet cactuses are a waste of time, as Pitt's character actually states loudly several times. Visually this is a so so film. Every now and again we are treated to some gorgeous, sun-burnt American landscapes, but these are over almost as soon as they begin and are replaced with dull, seen-it-all-before imagery. The end is perhaps the films finest peice however, when Pitt's evil secret becomes clear to Duchovny (Finally!) and he proceeds to slaughter, rape and mind-screw everyone who gets in his way, which is quite shocking. But is it really worth dragging ones self through this entire film just to reach the interesting finale?

I'll answer that for you: No. Not really.