Review of Kalifornia (1993) by Raji K — 14 Oct 2016

Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, Michelle Forbes, and David Duchovny star in Kalifornia. Pitt is Early Grace, a poor white trash redneck that is with Adele Corners (Lewis). The two are broke, live in a trailer and are on the verge of eviction. Duchovny is Brian Kessler who is a journalist researching serial killers. He and his photographer girlfriend Carrie (Forbes), put up a flyer to journey across America in route to California while touring sites of killings. Early and Adele decide to join them and the road trip begins.

Brian is an optimist who believes that serial killers should be studied and evaluated instead of executed. Carrie is suspicious of Early and does not trust him. Unknown to them, but revealed to the audience is that Early is indeed a serial killer. The irony of Brian researching serial killers while one is right under his nose sets up most of the film's premise. Thankfully the film does not believe this alone writes the film itself. Kessler believes Carrie is simply judging a book by its cover. The contrast between the social classes of the two couples brings out was an excellent way for the film to add more tension and depth to the characters simultaneously. Carrie's suspicions of Early almost make Carrie a villain even though we know Early is in fact a killer, but her instincts seem to hinge solely on Early being low class. When Carrie learns that Early beats Adele, her suspicions and grow and the paradigm shifts to Adele being more of an innocent victim. This sets a level of tension, and the slow unraveling of the characters' flaws and as they traverse the country side really is where the film is at its best. All of the performances are adequate, but I cannot wonder if different casting would have significantly improved this film. I have never been a fan of Juliette Lewis, but her role in the film better suites her acting style. Pitt does his best being the redneck white trash as he applies his accent, but his transitions into violence, particularly towards the second half of the film do not seem sensible. Duchovny was the most generic of the four.

Kalifornia starts of interesting and had potential to really be an intriguing film that attempts to truly help us understand a serial killer's psyche. The film dismissed the notion that serial killers have to be completely insane, or criminal masterminds, and can in fact just be the everyday Joe. This was another strength of the film. Unfortunately, film resorts over the top action and violence that completely contrast the first half of the film which I think disrupts some of the mentality that psyche. Early seems to transform from killing out of necessity and a sense of survival, to seeming to want to do it for the sport. Perhaps film tries to convey that one cannot predict a serial killer and they can go off at any time regardless of circumstances, but as Brian eventually states, the true difference between a killer and an average person is the lack of remorse.

The fact that the entire film is narrated by Brian keeps the film from being more dramatic as we know he will live through the journey. His narration comes off as a bit boring and monotonous, and it detracts from the film more than it adds. The film attempts to add a sexy and romantic element to the film as the characters have sex scenes throughout. This works initially as the characters feel emotionally connected, and the scenes do not seem forced. There is however, a scene where Early and Adele have sex in the car, and Carrie gets captured in the moment and begins photographing it. This completely contradicts her disdain and distrust for the characters that would have had her feeling instantly disgusted by the sight even though her photos feature sex. Kalifornia is flawed for sure and I was ready for this film to be over. The first half was really good, then the second half seemed like a watered down version of Natural Born Killers. It does more things right than wrong, but it could have been much better.

-10.15.2016.