''The Californians'' is a 2005 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

from Hart Sharp Films starring

Noah Wyle Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter (ER), John Carter in the television series ''ER (TV series), ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Glo ...

. It is a modern-day adaptation of the 1886

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

novel ''

The Bostonians ''The Bostonians'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in ''The Century Magazine'' in 1885–1886 and then as a book in 1886. This bittersweet tragicomedy centres on an odd triangle of characters: Basil Ransom, a political co ...

'', with the location moved from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

, and with the political topic driving the plot changed from

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

. ''The Californians'' is the second film adaptation of ''The Bostonians'', after the 1984 film ''

''.

Plot

Gavin Ransom (Noah Wyle) is a successful real estate developer who has made a tidy fortune putting up gated communities filled with expensive suburban homes all over California. Ransom intends to put up another such development in the as-yet-untouched hillsides of Northern California's Marin County, and, just as he's expected, a number of folks living nearby are objecting to the project, including his sister Olive (Illeana Douglas), an environmental activist who has sided with longtime resident Eileen Boatwright (Cloris Leachman) and progressive lawyer Sybil (Jane Lynch) against the development. Olive and her compatriots get some unexpected support when Zoe Tripp (Kate Mara), a modern folk singer and the daughter of old-school Marin County hippies (Keith Carradine and Valerie Perrine), takes an interest in their protests and begins singing out against Gavin's proposal with guitar in hand. Gavin unexpectedly finds himself growing powerfully infatuated with Zoe, and Olive, a long-closeted lesbian, is equally taken with her; consequently, as the siblings battle against building several dozen cookie-cutter mansions, they also wage a private war for the affections of the young songstress.Leo, Vince. "The Californians (2005) / Comedy-Drama" at ''Qwipster's Movie Reviews'', October 16, 2005
/ref>

Cast

as Gavin Ransom *

Illeana Douglas Illeana Hesselberg (born July 25, 1961 or 1965), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of '' Six Feet Under'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as O ...

as Olive Ransom *

Kate Mara Kate Rooney Mara ( ; born February 27, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for work in television, playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama ''House of Cards'' (2013–2014; 2016), computer analyst Shari Rothenberg in t ...

as Zoe Tripp *

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomin ...

as Eileen Boatwright *

Joanne Whalley Joanne Whalley (born 25 August 1961) is an English actress who began her career in 1974. She has appeared primarily on television, but also in nearly 30 feature films, including ''Dance with a Stranger'' (1985), ''Willow (film), Willow'' (1988), ...

as Luna *

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

as Elton Tripp *

Valerie Perrine Valerie Ritchie Perrine (born September 3, 1943) is an American actress. For her role as Honey Bruce in the 1974 film '' Lenny'', she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, the Cannes Film Festival Award for Be ...

as Lenora Tripp *

Jane Lynch Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series ''Glee'' (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recogni ...

as Sybill Platt *

Michael Panes Michael Panes is an American actor, writer, musician and composer. He attended Brown University and graduated with a music degree. He has appeared in numerous off-Broadway plays and has been noted as a gifted comedian with an uncanny resemblanc ...

as Marion Pardon *

Terry McGovern Terry McGovern may refer to: *Terry McGovern (boxer) (1880–1918), boxer who held the world bantamweight and featherweight titles *Terry McGovern (actor) Terence McGovern (born May 11, 1942) is an American actor, television broadcaster, radio pe ...

as Mr. Putterman * Erika Luckett as Mary Ann * Will Marchetti as Mayor * Carl Bressler as Martin Berg * Richard Gross as Contractor * Kurtis Bedford as Reporter *

Charles Martinet Charles Martinet (, ; born September 17, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor, known for his portrayal of both Mario and Luigi in the ''Super Mario'' video game series since 1992. He is also the voice of other characters in the series such ...

as City Councilman

References

External links

Official site
* * 2005 films American independent films 2005 drama films American drama films 2005 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{indie-drama-film-stub