Elliott Gould Movie:

		List Price: $24.96		Label: Sony Pictures Salesrank: 54917 Released: November 2, 2004
		Our Price: $49.95
		Used Price: $18.99
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

California Split Reviews:
California Split
2009-12-03 - A somewhat loopy exploration of the the motivation of gamblers by Robert Altman. The techniques that he employed in MASH-strong ensemble cast, overlapping conversations- all used to convey a sense of immediacy and to imitate the unpredictability of life. Elliot Gould as the loosey-goosey, come-what-may guy who lives to gamble, and George Segal as the magazine editor, who, we suspect, has gambled his life into a corner, and now seeks to gamble his way out. Strong supporting cast of Altman regulars Bert Remsen, Gwen Welles, Ann Prentice (looks a lot like Paula) and real-life high rollers like Amarillo Slim. Not to be missed.

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, Part III
2008-03-07 - Okay, to keep things straight Dashiell Hammet's Maltese Falcon was Part I, John Huston's Treasure of the Sierra Madre was Part II, and here with Robert Altman's California Split we have Part III of the age old dream of humankind to get rich without having to work, or do much of it. Or is there something else that also holds life (and these films together)? The business at hand in each case is the quest- for the damn bird in Maltese, the damn pot of gold in Treasure or the damn gambling jackpot for our two friends here. The end of this film, fittingly in its own way, tells it all.

After finishing up on a winning streak to end all winning streaks our duo when it is time to divvy up the cash finds there is no closure. That is the message; still it is nice to think of getting the payoff without having to work for it. After all, humankind has spend many millennia organizing itself and creating labor -saving devices for just such a condition. Except someone forgot to tell the few greed heads that this social product should be for the benefit of every one.

The early to mid 1970's was the heyday of the male `buddy' film out of Hollywood. The films of Robert Redford done with Paul Newman like The Sting and Butch Cassidy come to mind. Here Elliot Gould (as Charley) and George Segal (as Bill) two compulsive gamblers who will bet on anything at any time make a run for the roses in Reno. Along the way they get beat up, taken, and every other imaginable scenario before they get their stake for the run. Today such a scenario would include some time in a twelve step program but that is neither here nor there.

These two certainly have some chemistry working off each other's roles. Segal is the moody, enigmatic one; Gould is the classic hustler of the literary imagination. He would find congenial company in a Damon Runyon story. I might add that the so-called romance of gambling for a livelihood certainly gets a workout here. My experience at race tracks and betting parlors has not included these wholesome types. Usually, one is either desperately waiting to get the next bet down or the next stake. Not pretty in either case. But enough, see this movie.






















































Textbook story of gambling addiction
2007-05-07 - I will admit I am an Altman fan and a recovering compulisve gambler,so I feel capable of disccusing the theme of this film. It shows Gould and Segal's lives runing from bet to bet and paying the price along the way. It is not a sympathetic look at the world of gambling and has the usual Altman reperatory cast members and style to it. The ending isn't typical of gamblers real life stories, but this is Hollywood and it may have been the ending that the studio wanted. Both actors make their characters real to the viewer and it has a fun feel to it, even though it is not a comedy. It didn't reach a large audience, I feel because it didn't glamorize a topic that has so many ruined lives which makes it that much better. If you can find it, watch it, it is well done and gives you pause when you hear someone say, What goes on in Vegas etc.

Great early Altman film . . .
2006-11-21 - Segal and Gould are a decidedly odd pairing in this 1970s movie about gamblers and gambling set in Los Angeles and Reno. Mostly amiable and larky with brief outbursts of violence (a fist fight, an armed robbery), the film takes a sobering turn when we realize that one of the two men is in seriously deep debt to a loan shark. Quirky and off-kilter, the film includes two call-girls, whose clients include a cross dresser.

Compulsive gambling (the kind that sends people to Gamblers Anonymous) permeates the film, which takes us to poker palaces, backroom card games, horse races, boxing matches and the neighborhood basketball court. Eventually, our characters wind up at a Nevada casino. While the conventional gambling story at the time followed the moral guidelines of an earlier Hollywood era, i.e., a downward spiral of loss and failure, this film has other things on its mind, and the ending that it works toward is unexpected.

Altman was experimenting with overlapping dialogue and multiple microphones on set with this film, and the complexity of the soundtrack is a treat for the ears. As in everyday life, we overhear snatches of other people's conversations on the sidelines. Meanwhile, a lounge singer we hear accompanying scenes early in the film appears later on, in person, when the two gamblers arrive at the casino in Reno.

Altman, Segal, Gould and writer Joseph Walsh gather to provide the film's commentary for the DVD edition of this film. Their memories aren't so reliable after 30 years, but we learn how the film was shot in sequence with a degree of improvisation (the drunken attempt to remember the names of the seven dwarves), which allowed for elaboration of the original script and greater character development. We also learn that the apparently improvisational one-handed piccolo player scene was actually scripted, as well as about Gould's reluctance to play it. Still terrific after these many years, the film remains a pleasure to watch again and again.

Lowlife Time
2006-09-19 - If you want to spend 105 minutes with several lowlifes, this movie is for you. No one has any class; a thoroughly seedy atmosphere. You can feel degraded merely by watching it. A big flaw is the lack of motivation for the change in attitude, at the end of the movie, of the George Segal character. At least Gould is as obnoxious as ever. Only lowlifes say they didn't find my review helpful!! Looks like there's lots of lowlifes around. Except one!