Kalifornia (1993)

Director:

Dominic Sena

Writers (WGA):

Stephen Levy (story) &
Tim Metcalfe (story) ...

Release Date:

3 September 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A state of fear and terror

Plot:

A journalist duo go on a tour of serial killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | White Trash | Murder | Rape | Neo Noir

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Brad Pitt	...	Early Grayce
Kathy Larson	...	Teenage Girl (as Catherine Larson)
David Milford	...	Driver
David Duchovny	...	Brian Kessler
John Zarchen	...	Peter
David Rose	...	Eric
Michelle Forbes	...	Carrie Laughlin
Tommy Chappelle	...	Old Man
Juliette Lewis	...	Adele Corners
Judson Vaughn	...	Parole Officer
James Michael McDougal	...	John Diebold (as J. Michael McDougal)
Patricia Sill	...	Carol
Brett Rice	...	Police Officer
Marisa Raper	...	Little Girl
Bill Crabb	...	Middle Aged Farmer (as Bill Crabbe)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, and for sexuality and language.

Runtime:

117 min | USA:118 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | USA:R | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

'Michelle Forbes'' photographer character is a reference to the controversial photographer Andres Serrano, specifically his series 'History of Sex' and 'The Klan' (from the early 1990s).

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Brian and Carrie visit the murder scene, Carrie's Nikon clearly has a motor drive, and we hear the sound of it advancing the film, but we also see her manually advancing the film.

Quotes:

[Discussing Early's job at the mirror factory]
Adele Corners: Know what, Brian? One night when we was stayin' up late we was talkin' 'bout how much bad luck he must have comin' from all those mirrors he broke, and I swear we came to 449 years it would take for him to work it all off, and he'd have to - after he died - he's gonna have to keep comin' back to earth over and over and over again.
Carrie Laughlin: Karma.
Adele Corners: What?
Carrie Laughlin: Karma. You know, when you do something bad to someone and fate pays you back by something bad happening to you.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

I Love the World

To the actors of Kal-ee-for-nee-a, I say...

Nicely done! (pardon my Arnold Schwarzenegger)...

This movie was completely ignored when released back in '93, and that's a shame. It's a great, suspenseful two hour road-trip that certainly opened my eyes to see that Brad Pitt was indeed an actor. He looks like he took took the 'method-acting' thing seriously, as with his appearance in TRUE ROMANCE, I doubt he took even one shower in 1992.

Duchovny & Forbes were also fine as the normal half of this "ride share from hell", but I'm guessing Juliette Lewis' naive "jailbait" turned off a few people (see NBK or CAPE FEAR for further proof). Just ignore her grating & whiny delivery, and go along for the wild ride all the way to KALIFORNIA.