California Split (1974)
Bekkah:
This movie was a big ol’ Jeff-tease. He was literally in it for like one second with super dreamy hair and a baby face and then never again! Danya, how many times did I say “Is Jeff going to come back and save the day?” Anyway, after a 15-minute slow intro with a voiceover of a how-to-poker video, I thought this was going to be a poker movie. But it was more of a all-the-gambling movie with some nice friendship and bad choices thrown in. I really am not sure what to make of this movie. The women were side stories, but they seemed to be pretty complex characters. One surprisingly progressive transgender character for 1974, but also some homophobia. Outfits for daysssss. I do love a lot of the 70s aesthetic, I’m not gonna lie. Anyway, this was Jeff’s second-ever IMDB credit, so I’m glad Hollywood gave him the chance to flourish!
Danya:
This movie is a certain type of proto-hang over movie but like way darker. These two guys fall in friend-love (I kept wanting it to be more) and have some adventures, that (OMG!) turn out to also be misadventures. In the end, the accountant type guy who let gambling ruin his life, wins a lot of money but then realizes that money is hollow and he wants friends that aren’t as fun as Elliot Gould. There’s some good moments of chemistry between them, and also a weird scene that was not quite as transphobic as I would have expected. Jeff appears for a millisecond and leans in to his nerd-core true self.
6/10 Goldboops
When a casual gambler befriends a professional one, he begins to mirror his life, sending both deeper into the sleazy gambling world where the stakes keep getting bigger.
Director: Robert Altman
Writer: Joseph Walsh
Stars: George Segal, Elliott Gould, Ann Prentiss