Going To California

By James Poniewozik Sunday, Aug. 05, 2001
    • From Scott Rosenberg, the writer of the film Beautiful Girls, comes a similarly chatty male-bonding story (with the Sweet Caroline sing-along replaced by Journey's Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'). Two New England buddies (Sam Trammell and Brad Henke) take a cross-country road trip to find a missing pal and America. America, it turns out, is just one annoyingly quirky guest character after another, spouting overwritten dialogue. Nicely shot, thick with self-conscious, Y-chromosomal musings about the mysteries of life and women, Going to California has the stuff of a smart beer commercial. But as a series, it's a long and windy road.