49
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe suspense screws up tighter than a drum-head. The characters remain believable; we have a conflict of personalities, not stereotypes. The action coexists seamlessly with the message.
- 80VarietyLeonard KladyVarietyLeonard KladyThough somewhat overplayed and coy about its destination, the film packs a helluva wallop.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThis kinky game of murder and eroticism is preposterous but never boring.
- The best thing this film has going for it are the outstanding performances of Pitt and Lewis as a sort of white trash Romeo and Juliet cum Henry Lee and Becky. Pitt is especially believable, so much so that he eerily captures the sociopathic persona of a real-life killer from a true-crime book: the thin, easy-going veneer that masks an evil sense of an absent conscience.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliKalifornia is disturbing, and, while it doesn't overdo the blood, neither is the violence understated.
- 60EmpireEmpireFormer pop promo director Sena knows how to give a glossy sheen to the blank surfaces and rough edges of roadside America, but the results look cheap and shoddy rather than seductively challenging.
- 50TV Guide MagazineEthan AlterTV Guide MagazineEthan AlterUnrelenting and predictable, this pretentious collaboration between a music video director and the writer of "Revenge of the Nerds" covers all of the bases now required in a road movie thriller, to precious little dramatic effect.
- The movie is so beautifully filmed by Bojan Bazelli, and so skillfully edited, that its art house surface belies its exploitation content, making this a trip through a cool world rather than a cruel one.
- 40The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinKalifornia, which was written by Tim Metcalfe, lets its stars overact to the rafters as it vacillates between wild pretentiousness and occasional high style.
- 25Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIt's like a film-school thesis gone disastrously wrong.