Welcome to L.A. (1976)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Alan Rudolph

Writer:

Alan Rudolph (writer)

Release Date:

28 April 1978 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

City of the One Night Stands.

Plot:

The lives and romantic entanglements of a group of young adults who have achieved "overnight" success in Los Angeles.

Plot Keywords:

Nudity | Christmas | Alienation | Telephone | Female Frontal Nudity

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Keith Carradine	...	Carroll Barber
Sally Kellerman	...	Ann Goode
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Karen Hood
Harvey Keitel	...	Ken Hood
Lauren Hutton	...	Nona Bruce
Viveca Lindfors	...	Susan Moore
Sissy Spacek	...	Linda Murray
Denver Pyle	...	Carl Barber
John Considine	...	Jack Goode
Richard Baskin	...	Eric Wood
Allan F. Nicholls	...	David Howard
Cedric Scott	...	Faye
Mike E. Kaplan	...	Russell Linden
Diahnne Abbott	...	Jeannette Ross

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Lions Gate Films

Trivia:

John Wayne was originally going to play the part of Carl Barber. However, due to budget overruns and delays, Wayne had to be replaced by Denver Pyle.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

God is the Greatest Temptation of All

Self-absorption as a starting point

A gauzy, perfume advertisement-styled depiction of Los Angeles as a carousel of lonely, emotionally needy people has a great cast of actors, yet is so self-conscious about its theme that it leaves everyone wilting in a sterile vacuum. Debuting director Alan Rudolph, who also penned the screenplay, is so narcissistic over these hapless characters that self-absorption is just a starting point--does he think these people are reflective of modern human lives? Keith Carradine plays a songwriter whom women want but can't get (he's mired in alienation); Geraldine Chaplin is an unloved housewife who roams the streets; Lauren Hutton (at her most attractive) is a photographer specializing in pictures of empty rooms, and so on. Rudolph and producer Robert Altman, trying--one assumes--for a West Coast "Nashville", take the edge off everything, so that the movie is a smoothly banal experience, passive and bland. Despite a minute or two of honest emotional despair, the film quickly becomes a pity party for the apathetic. *1/2 from ****