California Split (1974) Reviews

California Split is one of Altman's best.  When this film was released in  1974, the subject of gambling addiction was not in the headlines. It was Watergate front and center and politics. Altman's 1975 breakthrough- Nashville was in production and California Split was released to theaters to critical acclaim but audience indifference.

Charlie Waters (Elliott Gould) is a semi-professional small-time gambling man who likes the seemingly care-free lifestyle of the gambler even though he exists on the brink of constant and nearly certain financial collapse. He doesn't really have very much to lose...