A few years ago, I wrote a paper in college about real-life violence and how some people, erroneously in my opinion, try to blame movies and other mediums of entertainment for corrupting young minds. One of the films that was called out was Natural Born Killers for its glamorized presentation of the lives of a murderous duo. Kalifornia has a similar story but is told in a more sinister fashion.
As David Duchovny muses in the film as aspiring author Brian, some people are born without the sense to know when they cross a line from the what-ifs of possibly hurting someone to actually doing so. Early Grayce, as played by the always awesome Brad Pitt, is one such person who enjoys life in the moment without much pause for consequence or reflection. When Brian and his other half Carrie (Michelle Forbes) plan to travel cross-country visiting murder scenes for Brian’s book, they hook up with Early and his girl Adele (Juliette Lewis) as a way of splitting gas money as both seek refuge in sunny California.
Through a very uneven voice-over, we learn that Brian is incredibly knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the psychology and procedures of past serial killers, but is unable to see the mounting odd mannerisms of Early that might lead most to suspect the worst. Pitt plays Early with a delicate balance as both a free-spirit, unhindered by the restrictions of the normal life Brian and Carrie lead and as a raving psychopath who is just waiting for his next opportunity to feed his desire to harm others. Things are left vague as to his motive as Brian posits that Early is acting out against a deplorable childhood and an abusive father which is quickly rebuked by Early himself. Either explanation is equally disturbing as Early is either killing random people to lash out against his long gone father (or any other authority figure) or just killing for the thrill of it with no desire to stop.
The relationships between the four main cast signifies the difference, or lack thereof, between normal and abnormal. Almost immediately, despite his reservations, Brian becomes quite chummy with Early as they get into drunken bar fights and shooting guns. Meanwhile Carrie and Adele have some powerful scenes as Carrie becomes more suspicious of Early and his demeanor, especially after hearing of his previous activities and his tumultuous relationship with Adele. All the characters are portrayed as polar opposites, one half being rather well off while the other barely qualifies as poor white trash. At the beginning, these differences lead to a rift, become an asset, and then blow up in everyone’s face as Early’s deeds become known to the group, including the naive and possibly mentally-challenged Adele.
While it seemed to come too early in the film, Early breaks his nice, Southern demeanor as he guns down a gas station attendant to avoid being stranded by Brian and Carrie. This marks a turning point in the film as the previously dense Brian becomes aware of his companion’s proclivity toward violence but is unable to intervene and stop the very nature of the man he is studying. While it is a bit coincidental that the researcher randomly meets his target subject such a manner, director Dominic Sena is able to keep things moving at a steady pace to avoid free time devoted to the whys and hows. Nothing here is forced or unnaturally accelerated as we see Pitt transform from a strange, but normal guy to a raving killer.
Of the cast, Duchovny is perfecting his Fox Mulder as a calm, level-headed and rather emotionless guy when confronted with suspicions about his traveling partner. I have always enjoyed Michelle Forbes, mostly on various TV shows, but she is excellent as the suspicious and almost stuck-up Northerner. The weak link here is Lewis, which while I can appreciate the complexity of someone who is not on a level playing field mentally, went a bit above and beyond to portray Adele’s naivety. The Coen’s staple composer Carter Burwell creates very haunting accompanying music to underscore the bleakness and depravity in the film.
While I had some issues with the overall structure of how it was portrayed and unfolded, Kalifornia is a solid drama based around real interactions with real people, one of whom just happens to be a psychopath.
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