Californication - The First Season
by John Dahl, Stephen Hopkins, Ken Whittingham, Scott Winant, Bart Freundlich
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Duchovny, Evan Handler, Madeleine Martin, Madeline Zima, Natascha McElhoneDirector: Bart Freundlich, John Dahl, Ken Whittingham, Scott Winant, Stephen Hopkins
Brand: CALIFORNICATION
Producer: Tom Kapinos
Writer: Tom Kapinos
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 340 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-06-17
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: PAR
Movie Reviews of Californication - The First Season
Movie Review: EX-FILES!!! AAA-RATED SHOW!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
What do you do after you take on the whole paranoid universe? You get wasted and laid galore!!! And, you insist on some of the snappiest, most literate dialogue ever written, put it in the mouths of a great cast, give us some unforgettable comedic moments, and flash us world-class eye candy every episode---Voila!!! Welcome to Californication, starring David Duchovny as the scraggly-but-dashing writer Hank Moody, both incurable romantic and bawdy p-hound; the bitter, ever-hungover, ex-partriate New Yorker who's living out his next novel amidst the boudoirs of Lotusland--though he doesn't know it just quite yet.
Part Lancelot, part Hefner, part Faulkner---with a jigger of Kafka thrown in for the Existential after-burn, Duchovny's Hank has his Grail Quest set out for him--to win back the capricious Karen, his tatooed love goddess, who left his non-committal ass for the steady though dull arms of Bill, publisher of the redoubtable digital HELL-A magazine-- ironically, the only writing gig open to Hank as he scrapes bottom during his free-fall. Also holding his heart is his impish daughter, Becca, to whom he is a glorious, if bruised, hero. Holding his body and soul together is his agent and true friend, Charley, while Charlie's wife Marcie remains Karen's loyal confidante and bush-waxer throughout tribulations.
A Post-Modern Odysseus, Hank bounces from gorgeous bed to even-more gorgeous
bed -- including one that is highly (though truly unknowingly) taboo--before going through an archetypal, Groundhog Day-ish ritual cleansing & purification that gets him closer to fine--and just maybe--to his estranged Penelope-esque Ex, Karen, now bound in the labyrinthine canals of Venice/Ithaca. Having gone through the Underworld, Hank's writing again, and hits upon that which just might win his lady back for him from the pretentious suitor Bill...but Cyclops, Circes, Sirens, and Swine abound, and the Fates may not be having any of it...And so it goes on his mythic peregrination back to the wholeness of love, family, and home. Will he make it? You'll have to watch to find out-and you'll thank me for keeping the secret, Rosebud....
Hank is a guy you can't help but root for, even though you gotta admit he's blown his 9 lives about five times over. Duchovny does a great job of keeping Hank at that sleazy-but-adorable edge throughout the show's initial run, and that is the main ingredient in the show's steamy comedic chemistry. I found it irresistible and addictive viewing--smart, bawdy, real, (gulp) mature--this show continually won over my heart and my mind.
I will say that I did have some qualms about the finale and what motivated it, but I can't go into that specifically without spoiling it for the uninitiated. Was it the complete, authentic story arc, or, were we not sure if we were coming back for Round Two? In a show that made precious few boo-boos, and that avoided clichés like the plague, it stood out as an impulsive compromise of some sort. Nevertheless, I was still hankering for more Hank, so I am just wiggy about the new season. Bring it on, Broheem!!!
The only other real mistake, I thought, was that they did not stick with the formula for the opening from the first episode, i.e., by having the intro scene, and then cutting to the overhead of Hank driving the coast road, and blasting the Stones song as the theme. BRILLIANT!!! He's a dude at the edge of the world, having lost his Woman, but with the scent of Strange wafting off his 4-day stubble as he bemusedly zips along in his grimy Porsche...& Mick 'n Keef wailing away...see?. I thought the way that played in the opener was just superb, and I was looking for that in week 2--and what I got was the jerky post-mod splat of dissonant rock and oblique montage that passed for a theme song & intro--BUMMER!!! (Crazy Little Thing Called CRAP!!! The show's biggest villainy visited upon itself!!) I'm sure high school kids have done better on their senior projects for TV Production class. I still cringe every episode and wonder how they missed on that one.
Otherwise, though, this was an absolutely joyous, hilarious, sexy, wry, subtle/not-subtle masterpiece of a show from start to finish. I am going to get a DVD set just because I can't stand watching censored re-runs anymore--and on a cable station mind you!! For crying--out--f*&%$n loud!!!! Like Hank, I'm reaching for a Dewar's mini.....and Disc One.
Summary of Californication - The First Season
Sophisticated and unique, this comedy centers on novelist Hank Moody (David Duchovny) who struggles to raise his 13-year-old daughter, while still carrying a torch for his ex-girlfriend. His obsession with truth-telling and self destructive behavior -- drinks drugs and relationships -- are both destroying and enriching to his career."You can?t always get what you want." The Rolling Stones may have said it best, and it seems to be writer Hank Moody?s theme song. David Duchovny (X Files) was born to play this sly, sarcastic, self-loathing, and--despite all the meaningless sex, booze, and fist fights--kind character. Writer Moody hates the Los Angeles world he lives in; a world that turned his sharp best-seller into a cheesy date movie, where his young daughter and should-have-been wife (Natascha McElhone) are slipping away into the hands of a rich play-it-safe guy, and where everything he truly wants seems just out of his reach. But the man hasn?t lost all hope. "Happy endings may get a bad rap, but they do happen," he assures his daughter. "And when they do, they?re just as true as the unhappy ones." One can?t help but hope Hank finds his happy ending, because it's with his family that his soft side surfaces. Hank takes no shame in trying to woo back his "wife" Karen, even if it is in front of her new fiancé. He knows he?s meant to be with her--plain and simple--and there?s a glint in her eye that always makes you wonder if she?s really thinking the same thing. And his daughter Becca? Well, any guy would melt against this guitar-wielding cutie (played by the adorable Madeleine Martin), but Hank really captures the "I?ll kick a lot of ass for my daughter" mentality that so many dads harbor. He?s also fully prepared to drop a gorgeous woman at a moment?s notice to heed his daughter?s call.
The rest of the cast, including Evan Handler (Sex and the City) and Pamela Adlon (Lucky Louie), provide some surprisingly interesting and hilarious side stories. Just when it seems situations in this show can?t get any more ludicrous or disgusting, they most certainly do. That?s the beauty of it. Californication is a dark, coarse, edgy adult comedy. It?s also very real, and quite intelligent. --Jordan Thompson
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