California Split (1974)
Directed by Robert Altman
Carefree single guy Charlie Waters rooms with two lovely prostitutes, Barbara Miller and Susan Peters, and lives to gamble. Along with his glum betting buddy, Bill Denny, Charlie sets out on a gambling streak in search of the ever-elusive big payday. While Charlie and Bill have some lucky moments, they also have to contend with serious setbacks that threaten to derail their hedonistic betting binge.
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What critics compared California Split to
Ratner is every bit as secular as the gambling duo Elliott Gould and George Segal in Robert Altman’s California Split (1974)—a movie to which Uncut Gems seems somewhat indebted, not least in the Safdies’ Altman-esque love for the sound of all-American clatter and chatter.
Two 1974 classics: “California Split” and “The Gambler.”
Y en Diamantes en bruto , de nuevo con Martin Scorsese, esta vez con el de Malas calles y su cine de rabia desbocada, a borbotones, con desequilibrios de guion pero con inusitada fuerza visual y sonora; y también con el Robert Altman de la insólita y ludópata California Split, y esas secuencias con cuatro o cinco personajes hablando a la vez, sin apenas profundidad de campo, turbadoras y conmovedoras.
The Safdies clearly idolize Robert Altman (and have openly cited his gambling romp “California Split” as inspiration here), but they’re more precisely operating within the grimy New York milieu that Martin Scorsese made famous in the ‘70s (Scorsese serves as an executive producer).
Like the late director Robert Altman’s movies (see 1974’s “California Split”), the audio track contains an earthy mix of constant background noise and chatter.
Unless you're a genius like Robert Altman, whose "California Split" (1974) is one of the great portraits of charismatically seedy nihilism, gambling (or any addiction) is a lousy bet as a movie subject because it is repetitious and boring.
Released just a month after “California Split,” Robert Altman’s more idiosyncratic take on the pleasures and perils of going all in, Reisz’s original “Gambler” marked the heavily autobiographical screenwriting debut of James Toback, who initially objected when Paramount announced plans for a remake without his knowledge.
The late, great Robert Altman was known for such putative toss-offs (think California Split or The Long Goodbye) that play like a party yet still linger in the memory.