The Californians (2005)
When real estate mogul Gavin Ransom announces his plan to cover California's northern coast with scores of mini-mansions, his environmentalist sister, Olive, launches a protest to stop him. But there's trouble ahead when Gavin begins falling for the pretty folk singer who's helping Olive's cause.
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That was an excellent one.
Memorable, crazy movie
Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Generally I view films out of the USA as second class. They all appear to be obsessed with violence, nudity, sex or drugs. None of which I will watch.This movie had none of those disgusting attributes. While it was a satire that did "take the mickey" out of both sides of an issue, as previously mentioned, it did have an underlying message with meaning (actually meanings).I found the text enjoyable and easy to listen to. I found the singing by all artists excellent. Notwithstanding other comments, the movie did have a flowing story.I urge the movie producers of this planet to learn that they can produce quality.
It is difficult to believe that this discerning cast would have involved themselves in this project if the initial reading proved to be as unsatisfying as the finished work.Another work, John D. McDonalds' book "Condominium", for example, dealt with similar subject matter but with an intelligence and style that allowed the protagonists to be understandable and even sympathetic characters in spite of their flaws. In "The Californians" the characters appeared unaware of the importance of the world around them while wandering aimlessly through their own, increasingly trivial, lives.To paraphrase Rudyard Kipling: "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirsand blaming it on you ... chances are you haven't grasped thesituation! "
I agree with baxterp and really don't have much more to say, although I can't resist saying something.Too many movie critics are overly impressed with movies that convey a one sided political perspective and fail to notice how one sided and underdeveloped the characters in such films tend to be. Think Syriana, The American President, The Insider, Erin Brockovich.What is clever about The Californians is that an ostensibly demonized character, a housing developer, has a sympathetic and warm side, while his sister, an environmental activist, has a jealous and vindictive streak. Even the roles of "developer" and "activist" were shown to have multiple facets.Finally, the love story between Gavin and Zoe was nicely woven into the above plot twists.A true sleeper only appreciated by those not blinded by political activism.
If John Muir were alive today, he might make a movie like The Californians. Gavin Ransom (Noah Wyle), an avaricious real estate developer and land exploiter has a twin sister, Olive Ransom (Illeana Douglas) who is a passionate environmentalist and vegan. Their diametrical philosophies illuminate the intricacies of hypocrisy. Olive discovers a mellifluous vocalist, Zoe Tripp (Kate Mara), whose pro-ecology ballads are reminiscent of Joan Baez. Soon Zoe is offered a recording contract, which excludes her guitarist-accompanist father, Elton Tripp (Keith Carradine), and the lyrical import of her songs is threatened by commercialism, as many species are threatened by builders and human population growth. A romance develops between Gavin and Zoe, despite Olive's opposition, as Gavin loses his way on the road to quick riches, and finds other values aside from money.