Kalifornia
with Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny
Written by Stephen Levy, Tim Metcalfe
Directed by Dominic Sena
by Laura Kallio
Can you say white trash? Kalifornia and True Romance are two wonderful films out on video this month frolic through this state of being which, apparently, has become a sort of genre, complete with mobile homes, gun-toting, beer-guzzling, imbeciles, and even Elvis. It’s a place where violence is romantic, where men call “their women” affectionate nicknames like mama, and where escape and dreams of comfortable middle class living are the name of the game.
Kalifornia (Polygram) This is the brutally violent story of how psychotic killer, Early (Brad Pitt), and his dim-witted, child-like girlfriend Adele (Juliette Lewis), wind up terrorizing the unsuspecting couple with whom they have agreed to share a ride across country: Destination, Kalifornia.
The terrorized couple, a writer and his photographer girlfriend, are at work together on a book, ironically enough, about serial killers. The pair fills out opposite ends of stereotypical New York arrogance. She bitches and makes no bones about looking down her nose at Early and Adele, while he is perhaps even more patronizing when he tries his best to pal it up with Early and pretends to take actual interest in what these two ignoramuses have to say.
The road trip degenerates into a gritty and deeply disturbing joyride to hell with Early in the driver’s seat. I’ve never been as impressed with Pitt and Lewis as everyone else seemed to be. I actually sat through Cool World. But Pitt is truly menacing here and he plays Early with a nonchalance that only accelerates the horror in his psychotic outbursts.
The same is true of Lewis’ performance as Adele, who, mentally and emotionally, is about five years old. When she defends Early’s abusive behavior, it breaks your heart because despite the fact that Early whips her and demands she follow a long list of redneck rules (i.e. no cussin’, no drinkin’ and no smokin’) you know that he probably treats Adele far better than anyone ever has.
The film’s ending is pretty weak, but overall you’re kept riveted. Kalifornia makes you sit back and shudder. It’s definitely worth the rental fee.
True Romance (Warner Bros.) I know people who couldn’t stomach Reservoir Dogs, the incredible film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. They said it was too violent. Too violent my ass! Ever see a Lethal Weapon movie? Tens of people blow up in each one of them but no one ever says they’re too violent. What separates Reservoir Dogs and True Romance, also written by Tarantino, from other “action movies” is that here the violence is real. Here, people bleed to death, slowly. Here, people with guns often have lousy aim. Violence in these films is not glossed-over, neatly-packaged crap. It’s chaotic and messy and it makes your stomach turn over. It’s real.
True Romance, directed by Tony Scott, who gave us Top Gun of all things, definitely has broader appeal than Reservoir Dogs because somehow, despite the gruesome violence that goes on throughout, there remains a level of humor. It’s like the dangly little, up-beat xylophone number that plays over shots of a dismal Detroit skyline – no matter how bad it gets, you still get to smile.
The film stars Christian Slater as Clarence Worely, an under achiever comic book store clerk and Elvis fanatic. On the night of his birthday, Clarence meets Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette), a cheerful Southern belle who turns out to be a call girl who has been hired as a birthday present for poor Clarence by his boss. The two fall instantly in love. Alabama quits the call girl business after only three nights on the job and marries Clarence the next day.
Perhaps influenced by one too many Kung Fu movies and then egged on by Elvis (Val Kilmer), his spiritual guide, Clarence goes after Drexel, Alabama’s ex-pimp, played with a menacing cloudy blue eye and dread locks by genius Gary Oldman. A blood bath ensues and our hero takes off with a suitcase containing, not Alabama’s things, but instead, about a million dollars worth of cocaine.
Happy with their new found fortune, the pair heads off for California (land of milk and honey) with gangsters hot on their trail. An incredibly intense scene between Clarence’s estranged ex-cop dad (Dennis Hopper – genius number two) and a slimy mob boss (Christopher Walken – number three) follows. I admit I covered my eyes here, but again, I had to laugh when Walken’s character, after shooting Dad execution style, sighs, “I haven’t killed anyone since 1989.”
When our lovers finally get to L.A., they meet up with Clarence’s boyhood friend Dick (Michael Rappaport), a would-be actor, and Dick’s stoner roommate Floyd (Brad Pitt) who responds to friend and foe alike with the same dazed greeting and provides some of the film’s most hilarious moments.
While Clarence is off setting up the drug exchange, Alabama gets into what amounts to the most brutal attack of a woman ever filmed. When a mob cronie shows up at the couple’s motel room, Alabama proves her unconditional love for Clarence by suffering a vicious beating when she could have easily folded and given up the coke.
Bronson Pinchot plays Eliot, the snot-nosed assistant to the big Hollywood movie producer who’s interested in the bargain basement coke. Hopelessly unlucky Eliot, in the process of arranging said drug transaction, winds up getting caught with coke all over his face by cops, and then the fun really starts. Clarence and his pals, the mafiosos, the cops, and all the Hollywood bigwigs, meet up for a bloody shootout with coke, feathers and body parts a flyin’.
The film ends with one of those happily ever after scenarios that usually makes me puke, but within the context of this film, it’s perfectly satisfying. True Romance is an uproarious, gory, rollercoaster ride. It’s a heart warming, sexy, romantic comedy trapped in the body of an action movie. Tony Scott makes the gore palatable, even fun, without neglecting its deep darkness, and delivers what I think was without question one of 1993’s best films.
