85
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertBecause Joseph Walsh's screenplay is funny and Segal and Gould are naturally engaging, we have a good time.
- To extend the boxing analogy, poker’s Raging Bull is the 1974 Robert Altman masterpiece, California Split.
- 90The A.V. ClubNick SchagerThe A.V. ClubNick SchagerRobert Altman’s most overlooked gem.
- 88Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderAs in all Altman films, winning is losing; and the more Altman reveals, in his oblique, seemingly casual yet brilliantly controlled way, the more we realize that to love characters the way Altman loves his, you have to see them turned completely inside out.
- 80The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyA fascinating, vivid movie, not quite comparable to any other movie that I can immediately think of. Nor is it easily categorized.
- 80Time OutTime OutLike Hawks, 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. In the process he shows more of what's happening in America than most newsreels, coaxes jazzy and inventive performances out of his actors (Prentiss and Welles are particular treats), and asks for a comparable amount of creative improvisation from his audience while busily hopping from one distraction to the next.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineA 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, providing an example of impov at its best.
- 75Slant MagazineEric HendersonSlant MagazineEric HendersonAltman’s disgruntled comedy California Split, aside from its typically busy soundtrack (it was the first movie Altman used eight-channel audio to capture all the dialogue), seems a relatively straightforward buddy film...it’s also an anti-buddy parable in which George Segal and Elliott Gould’s homosocial behavior is equated unflatteringly against their obsessive gambling addictions.
- 60Village VoiceAndrew SarrisVillage VoiceAndrew SarrisCalifornia Split never comes to a very fine point in the psychological development of its characters. California Split is thus more about moment-to-moment living than momentous life. [03 Oct 1974, p.81]