Inspired by his girlfriend's photography, journalist Brian Kessler (David Duchovney) realizes that a combination of photography from the locales of infamous serial killers along with his own perspectives on the crimes could form the foundation of a best seller.  Kessler has spent his advance money and needs some financial assistance to bring his dream to reality.  He needs someone to split expenses on a criss-cross-country trip to California, stopping at the infamous crime locations along the way.  What Kessler does not expect is that he might be closer to getting into the mind of a serial killer than he really ever wanted to be.

Tim Metcalf wrote the screenplay for Kalifornia, which is based on an original story he wrote along with Stephen Levy.  The story provides something very different and gripping.  I thoroughly enjoy thrillers, and this one provides all the elements to a good thriller.  It moves at a good pace, it reveals just enough to keep you wondering when the hammer is going to drop, it has characters that can be unpredictable, the premise offers opportunities for good action and the dialogue adds to the suspense.  If anything, the story moves over-the-top at times, slipping into extreme stereotypes or incorporating elements that stretch believability to a breaking point.  But the interesting characters, although a bit flat and stereotyped somehow seem to engage the audience.  The plot has some predictabiilty, but provides enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. 

I appreciate David Duchovney in his Showtime series, Californication.  Duchovney convincingly plays a man-ho in that series.  Seeing Duchovney sixteen years younger was a shock.  He was a bit gangly and green in this film.  Not that I didn't like him or his character...but he was not nearly as believable as the backwoods trailer-trash bubba, Early Grayce.  Grayce was brought to life by a much younger Brad Pitt, who completely unleashed this character in the film.  The character has some cartoonish traits, but Pitt appears to become lost inside this character.  Pitt was exceptional.  Juliette Lewis also has a character given over to cliche...but she did an excellent job of selling a part that might otherwise have lacked any credibility.  Lewis plays Grayce's childish girlfriend, who refuses to believe he is bad because he protects (as well as beats her).  Michelle Forbes rounds out the primary cast as Carrie Laughlin, the misunderstood photographer whose photographs are too graphic for "main-stream consumption."  Another one-dimensional role that Laughlin makes work with her hot jet-black bob-style hairdo.  The cast members had great chemistry, adding to the suspense.

Kalifornia was released in 1993.  For a film that has a bit of dust on it, this selection is well worth renting.  The elements of the story are timeless.  In fact, the basic story was good enough that an updated version would probably do well at the box office.  Of course, cell phones were not very common in 1993 (remember those awful car phones in a bag?)  Incorporating new technology into the story might add some interesting new twists, however, the film does not rely on technology and works the way it is.  The lack of advanced technology does not appear to pigeon-hole the story in a specific time frame.  With a run-time of nearly two hours, the film did not feel long.  The pacing was well timed to keep events moving forward.  The time seemed to breeze by.

Kalifornia was rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America.  Sixteen years later, this film still deserves the R rating.  There are some steamy scenes depicting sexual encounters, even though the nudity was limited to a rear shot of a naked Brad Pitt, climbing out of a grave covered in dirt.  The violence and gore factor in this film are what you would expect from a film about a serial killer.  The gore was not overdone, but was explicit enough to give younger children nightmares.  There were also some intense scenes of violence and implied violence that did not have a high gore factor, but still might be a bit troubling for a younger audience.  Language, drinking and smoking were also all factors to be considered in this film, although those elements don't concern me very much.  I would recommend a viewing audience of at least thirteen.

I enjoyed Kalifornia.  This film may be long in the teeth, but it didn't feel old.  In fact, it felt like it could have been done just a couple of years ago.  The acting was superb and the concept was interesting. Dominic Sena did an excellent job of building the suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seat.  There were parts that were cliche and some of the characters tested the boundaries of stereotyping to the point of nausea.  However, the stereotypes did play a role in the film, so I guess it becomes a necessary evil.  I would have liked for that to have been toned down a bit.  Overall, I would rank this film around three and a half stars or slightly better.  Not quite four stars, but for the database, that is exactly what this film gets.  Four stars out of a possible five.

Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older