Was happily surprised to find Robert Altman’s California Split in the “free movies” section of my cable system’s “On Demand” channel. This 1974 movie has not been available for many years and was rumored to be re-released with the upsurge in poker popularity. Actually, I’d never heard of it even though I’m a Robert Altman fan and had seen most of his stuff. The poker community buzz had this movie pegged as an authentic look at California card rooms of the period. Sounded like a good way to spend a couple hours.

The opening scene is a cleverly done exposition on the subject of poker. We find ourselves back in the seventies when life was easy and poker was hard. Indeed the brush board for the room lists Draw, Lowball, Jacks or Better for games. Apparently no Texas Hold’em outside of the Lone Star State yet. Altman has a unique way of staging setting and action as you may know if you’ve seen his most widely known work M.A.S.H. and is a genius for capturing it with the camera. Most of his films however, turn self-indulgent and patronizing to the subjects portrayed. A story about a couple of hapless compulsive gamblers, the script more or less turns into a state of mind and a series of vignettes that Altman is so fond of rather than any Point A To Point B linear story path. Must be hard to write for the guy and several clinkers sneak into the dialogue as a result of Altman’s self-absorbed Hollywood mindset.

Ah, people driving VW beetles and Pintos and wearing bellbottoms… you can just smell the grass and they must have gone through a bale of it making this film. Jeff Goldblum appears for about 2.5 seconds back in the day before he found how to eat the scenery in less than 1 second. No twitches, double takes, eye bulges or vocal gymnastics to slow the action in ’74!

The middle of the film is a rough slog but stick it out to the part where they gather their stake and head for the “big game” in Reno. The action in Reno gives a glimpse of the Primadonna when it was open and we end up in a bygone casino where our worthy heroes put their money on the line. You’ll have some time to try and guess which joint we’re in before the name pops out; see if your ID is correct as the chips appear to be from the props department rather than actual cheques. And yes, that guy in the cowboy hat is who you think it is!

The resolution comes on schedule but the movie isn’t really about any sort storyline other than “This Is A Robert Altman Movie”. This is a movie with poker in it and there is nothing wrong with that as I’ve always said the same about Cincinnati Kid. Rounders is an actual poker movie and while both are better than Split, you would be doing yourself a favor to see Bob’s movie.