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George Segal, Elliott Gould, Ann Prentiss, Gwen Welles, Ed Walsh ... see more see more... , Joseph Walsh , Marc Cavell , Barbara Colby , John Considine , Jay Fletcher , Jeff Goldblum , Richard Kennedy , Barbara London , Vincent Palmieri , Alyce Passman , Bert Remsen , Jack Riley , Barbara Ruick , Tom Signorelli , Joanne Strauss , Eugene Troobnick , Sharon Compton , Thomas Hal Phillips , Mickey Fox , Edward Walsh , Joey Walsh

The most narratively loose of Robert Altman's '70s films, California Split details the haphazard lives of two compulsive gamblers searching for that ever-elusive big score. Newly single and soon-to-be... read more read more...-unemployed Bill (George Segal) joins live-wire pal Charlie (Elliott Gould), as the pair moves from Fruit Loops with Charlie's hooker roommates Sue (Gwen Welles) and Barbara (Ann Prentiss) to bets on horses, backroom card games, boxing, and basketball. They make it to Reno, but Bill comes to realize that even the big score may not be the answer to the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life. For Charlie, however, that's all there is. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Flixster Users

80% liked it

2,661 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

11 critics

R, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Robert Altman

Release Date: August 7, 1974

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DVD Release Date: November 2, 2004

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Stats: 131 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (131)

  • brooklynspo
    September 7, 2008
    brooklynspo
    Ultimate Altman?
  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    Altman's hilarious look at compulsive gambling is perhaps his most underrated film.
  • pier007
    July 21, 2011
    pier007
    An amusing and completely uncategorizable film that captures the mood of its period, an atmosphere long gone by now where the low life and unstable compulsive gamblers round up looking for little green papers to pass through the week or more hopefully to heal their wounds. As som... read moree other works by its director, it feels over talky, anarchic, scattered, erratic, but he always gets the best out of his cast, giving them time to improvise and take it to the wildest, in the case of Elliot Gould. He and George Segal were perfect for the job, the chemistry is real, un rehearsed. Although the story doesn't take much chances, the reliance on its actors' charm is what makes it quite enjoyable.
  • rubystevens
    September 21, 2009
    rubystevens
    a stellar tragicomic buddy film about compulsive gamblers. extremely natural, even by altman standards. elliott gould at his manic peak
  • kenstachnik
    April 11, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Near perfect Altman, Segal and Gould are on fire in this small time gambler character comedy.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    January 30, 2008
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    Altman's most underrated film!
  • adammahler1
    June 2, 2007
    adammahler1
    Altman hit his goal of replacing plot as much as possible with character observation; Segal and Gould are great
  • gator681
    April 21, 2007
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]Directed by Robert Altman, "California Split" is a rambling, episodic tale of two small-time compulsive gamblers in Los Angeles. Though they share an obsession that rules their lives, they could not be any more different. Charlie Waters(Elliott Gould) enjoy... read mores gambling, lives by his wits and bets on anything and everything. However, Bill Denny(George Segal) is miserable and gambling does little for him. He still has one foot in the mundane world by working as a writer for a magazine but he is also divorced, gambling possibly having ruined his marriage.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]By eschewing a traditional narrative structure, Robert Altman is able to avoid the cliches that occur in most addiction movies(such cliches explaining why I have not been favoring any of the drug movies I have seen recently). The movie does not pass judgment, just observing and trying to get inside the gamblers' heads. And thanks to two excellent lead performances, it succeeds.[/font]
  • thirdway821
    November 20, 2011
    thirdway821
    I think this is one of Robert Altman's best's and it's very funny too. It's one of those all good things must come to an end pictures with two great stars. I love the way how Altman introduces me to the game of poker and gambling and the characters who overlap and talk whenever t... read morehey please.
  • trisarahtops22
    July 25, 2007
    trisarahtops22
    Elliott Gould creates a hilarious character and makes for a great, funny, and somewhat tragic film

View All California Split Reviews

Critic Reviews

Michael Atkinson
March 25, 2008
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

Sold as a comedy, the film scans more like American-century Dostoyevsky, with comp cocktails. Full Review

Don Druker
March 25, 2008
Don Druker, Chicago Reader

Robert Altman's masterful 1974 study of the psychology of the compulsive gambler. Full Review

Variety Staff
March 25, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

The film is technically and physically handsome, all the more so for being mostly location work, but lacks a cohesive and reinforced sense of story direction. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

A fascinating, vivid movie, not quite comparable to any other movie that I can immediately think of. Nor is it easily categorized. Full Review

Roger Ebert
November 13, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

What Altman comes up with is sometimes almost a documentary feel; at the end of California Split we know something about organized gambling in this country we didn't know before. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
September 5, 2009
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Nothing enhances Altman's visual-aural density like the bustle of poker circles, race tracks, boxing rings Full Review

March 25, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A film such as this, which is essentially a series of comic vignettes without a plot, depends upon its performances, and both Gould and Segal are in top form. Full Review

Tom Block
November 19, 2006
Tom Block, culturevulture.net

...the big thing holding back American movies is that they aren't more like California Split. Full Review

Eric Henderson
October 8, 2006
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

Adding emphasis on the homo-ness of their lucrative bond are the repeated instances where the interference of women breaks both their concentration and their hot streaks. Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf
February 9, 2006
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out

Altman feels rather than thinks his way into a subject, with a special interest in how people relate to one another in moments of crisis. Full Review

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