California Split

Altman at the absolute top of his form--which is to say among the freest, loosest and sensorily densest great movies ever made in America. Visually and sonically thick as a brick, it also represents some of the highest-flying improvisatory acting you've ever seen. Put the Godard of the early sixties in a polyester shirt, lay him down among the rummies and compulsive cases of the American gambling subculture, and fill him with equal parts beer and caffeine, and you have some idea of this thoroughly amazing, free-and-easy comedy, which has a scary undertow: the scene where George Segal tries to persuade co-addict Elliott Gould of the hollowness of the big win might be the most scarily desolate in any Altman picture.

Why California Split remains among the most obscure of Robert Altman's extraordinary 1970s oeuvre is a mystery. Its stars -- Elliot Gould and George Segal -- were at the top of their form, free and comfortable working in Altman's off-the-cuff, low-key style. Its supporting cast -- Ann Prentiss, Gwen Welles and especially Bert Remsen, as the cross-dressing old jane "Helen Brown," -- is memorable. And its full gallery of extras (many drawn from the therapeutic community Synanon) populate a surreal gambling netherworld in California and Nevada. Altman is working in highest gear with the layered, semi-improvised and alluringly murky style he pioneered. As in Altman's best work, the story just sort of happens, without much distinction between foreground and backdrop, principal characters and walk-ons. Lacking the rigid and didactic "dramaturgy" of its competitors, California Split endures as one of the most probing examinations of the soul and psyche of the abnormal gambler ever filmed.

I worked on the set of this one and it was a wonderful experience. This gambling tale is light and sad with ensemble acting all around. George Segal (always good) and Elliott Gould (sometimes good) make a great team of "losers" who just can't resist their addiction. Bert Remsen has a great supporting role, along with Ann Prentiss and Gwen Welles - ditzy hookers.

An 8 out of 10. Best performance = Mr. Segal. I don't think this made a dime unfortunately. A must for all Robert Altman fans. I'm sure this is available now on DVD, so seek it out for an American tale that never quite spins out of control. You won't regret it.

Now I really thinks that this is an amazing good movie. Amazing both for the story and for the actors: they produce a common effort in saying some real true things about gambling. Great directing, too, and great places to shoot the story (how clever to choose the depressing Reno instead of Las Vegas! Atlantic City would have been a good choice, too). Gambling is what people do when they have anything else left to do. Gambling is all about losing, feeling sad, and loneliness. And it's the same if you win or if you lose, no difference. Other films usually show winners, when they solves their common life problems through gambling, or losers, when they ruin their own common life trough gambling. What is shown by California Split is that, if you are a gambler, then there's no space for anything else, say life, love, or hope. And that's both for winners and for losers.

Bill Denny (Geore Segal) and Charly Waters (Elliot Gould) cross paths at a California poker parlor. Denny is a casual player, Waters a motormouth pro who loves to psyche opponents. When a player suspects the two are card sharks he exacts revenge in a parking lot, further bonding the pair. Denny is soon caught up in Waters world of the professional gambler, one that is far from his dull everyday existence to one filled with pressure, addiction but most importantly excitement.

Director Robert Altman does an excellent job of of establishing a chokingly oppressive mood and setting in this episodic gambling story that spends most of its time at a poker table or race track. It is a somewhat sordid and tawdry existence however that is soon working on fumes for a storyline, Altman's vaunted improvisational form, eventually hamstrung by the banality of the next bet.

Segal and Gould buddy up fairly well but soon grow obnoxious and annoying with their pursuit of big pay days and overlong song and dance duets. The climactic Reno scene pulsates with suspense resulting in a nice offbeat ending but like Bill at the end you might be asking yourself, is that all there is?