The Hills of California
8 / 10
While this dysfunctional family drama slides by surprisingly smoothly over its 2 ¾ hours running time, thanks to his colorful writing, the superb work of an ensemble cast, and the seamless direction of the great Sam Mendes, it’s only on your train or taxi ride home that it will hit you just how overlong, overpopulated and undernourished the work really is. It’s ultimately little more than a worthy imitation of something Tennessee Williams or Edward Albee might have written in their prime, and not a play as sui generis as Butterworth’s “The Ferryman” or “Jerusalem.”
