Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This is the finest metaphor for the Romanian American relationship as it is viewed from the Romanian side. It goes deeply, but in a fun manner, into this 70 year old relation. All aspects are quintessential to understanding the Romanian understanding of world politics. The movie might be hard to understand for a Westerner that has not all the data, but definitely strikes a cord and you will feel it throughout the movie, no matter your nationality. To define this movie I would focus on realism, characters that do represent stereotypes, black Romanian humor, teenage Balkan sexuality and between the lines harsh criticism of world politics. One should look beyond the situational humor and invest some time to read between the lines of one of the best movies produced by the Eastern European cinema in the past two decades

Can you make a better film by leaving it unfinished? George Lucas, famously, thought he could have done better with 'Star Wars', but the changes he made after 20 years were generally met with derision. In the case of Cristian Nemescu's film 'California Dreamin'', there's a sadder story: the director died in a car crash while the film was in edit. What he left behind was a story (about American soldiers marooned in a Romanian backwater) that is arguably overlong and unfinished (indeed, the film even has a subtitle to this effect), with some unlikely cuts and juxtapositions (that may or may not have been intended). It's certainly likely that, with more time, he'd have cleaned it up, made it a little slicker and to the point. Or maybe not. Because the wonder of this film is its lugubrious charm, the sense you have in watching it that you are every bit as stuck as the Americans. It's a mood piece, and yet also a piece of uncertain mood. As well as the sort of sly comedy that is consistently to the point without ever actually making you laugh: you watch it with a twitch of a smile perpetually on your face, yet it's downbeat style continuously pulls back from being actually funny. Star of the show is Armand Assante as the bamboozled American captain, out of his depth in a peace zone.This film brought back memories for me, as I visited Romania twice in the early 1990 (although five or more years before this film is set). And I recognise every thing about this world: the bureaucracy, the corruption, the former communist officials still in place, the decrepitude of the public infrastructure, the general sense that no damn thing works; and of course, the pretty girls excited by the faintest hint of outside. When the captain calls it 'paradise' it's unclear if he's lost his marbles; but the film has certainly not lost its own sense of irony. And yet, I did wonder why a Romanian director should have wanted to make a film that shows such a picture of his country. But then I was reminded of another film about a local community (this time in Scotland) visited by an American, Bill Forsyth's 'Local Hero'; and there are aspects of both films that are similar, not least in the ambiguous relationship of the movie to the people it depicts (superficially, in both cases, our initial sympathies are with the outsiders). 'California Dreamin'' is a much darker movie; but for all its oddness, I loved it. And it reminded me of another time in my life surprisingly warmly.

It's a very touching film, funny and beautiful in his simplicity! You can be sad or smiling? You can be introspective? You can be with the the actors in this movie? Every spectator can be in one character of this film, you can laugh and be critical in the same time... but you cannot be upset for losing time to watch this film!And in the ultimate instance, to be more understanding for this film must to be Romanian!Respect for the director who are not longer under us...______________________________________________http://octogonul.ro

Hm... lets see:This movie is kinda different , it takes you out of the American movie style(lots of shots ,as much action as possible but..for what?). Simple low budget movie that shows that you could make a good movie if you have good ideas! Somebody once produced a brilliant movie shot in one room, .. just one room! ..yes i'm talking about "12 Angry Men" , so "California Dreamin'" based on (i consider) a good plot with low amount of money it deserve to be watched.Fugitive brief: *Action is placed in Romania, in a small village,year 1999. *Americans were passing through Romania to deliver NATO equipment *In a small village they were stopped by the Railway chief because they were not having any travel papers.(Alltough the railway chief was having orders to let them pass) *They remain in that village for a couple of days until the papers problem was solved (Railway chief explaining the Americans that they ain't better than the rest and need to follow Romanian law)PS: excuse my English!