Leonardo DiCaprio goes from one California location to another in “One Battle After Another.”

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” is favored to win the Academy Award for best picture.

But, sad to say, the film is also a loser for California geography — and the state treasury.

Your columnist, a believer in California independence, wanted to love a generation-long civil war waged by everyday Californians against a fascist U.S. regime.

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But as someone who visits all corners of this state, I found myself totally confused — precisely because I recognized every single California setting.

Characters in the movie make turns in San Diego and are suddenly in Sacramento. Or they run from military assault in Humboldt County and seconds later show up 10 hours south in Lompoc near Santa Barbara. Or they start a car chase on the Central Coast and finish it on desert roads around Borrego Springs in eastern San Diego County.

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The movie would have been more accurately titled, “One California Place After Another.”

Why the dizzying geography? The choice appears mercenary, not artistic — a naked attempt to maximize the amount of money it could take from the California Film and Television Tax Credit program.

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That attempt has been successful. Gov. Gavin Newsom and the........

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