So leaden and obvious it's too somnambulant to be funny.
The Californians (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:4
Fresh:1
Rotten:3
Average Rating:N/A
Synopsis: Having brought a Herman Melville classic to the big screen with BARTLEBY, former musician Jonathan Parker fashions another literary retelling with his second directorial effort, THE CALIFORNIANS. A... Having brought a Herman Melville classic to the big screen with BARTLEBY, former musician Jonathan Parker fashions another literary retelling with his second directorial effort, THE CALIFORNIANS. A modern update of Henry James's THE BOSTONIANS, the film stars Noah Wyle (of ER fame) as Gavin Ransom, an unscrupulous land developer bent on constructing lavish mansions along the pristine California coast. Gavin faces opposition from his environmentalist sister, Olive (Illeana Douglas, GHOST WORLD)--a prickly situation made worse when they both fall in love with the same woman, an earnest protest singer named Zoe (Kate Mara, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN). Cloris Leachman, Keith Carradine, and Valerie Perrine round out the star-studded cast. [More]
Starring: Noah Wyle, Illeana Douglas, Kate Mara, Cloris Leachman
Starring: Noah Wyle, Illeana Douglas, Kate Mara, Cloris Leachman, Keith Carradine, Valerie Perrine
Director: Jonathan Parker
Director: Jonathan Parker
Reviews for The Californians
Largely due to a loose, inconsistent script by Parker and Catherine di Napoli, it plays like a formulaic TV movie.
The film's edge gets softer as it goes - - in ways that might baffle all but the granola-scarfing well-heeled hippies it seemed to be parodying.
A very funny film ... skewers the sacred cow of environmentalism, a religion worshiped in LaLa Land.
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