Originally Reviewed
Sunday February 3, 2008
I'm not a huge fan of independent films but watching the trailer for King of California garnered in me some interest to want to check it out. I've always been a huge fan of Kirk Douglas and his classic western roles (second only to Clint Eastwood) and had a similar affinity for his son Michael Douglas who also happens to be a well seasoned actor. Independent, low budget films seem to be becoming more and more the fad for many well known actors to be participating in now a day, and if done well they can actually be quite entertaining.
Evan Rachel Wood plays 16 year old Miranda, she's been living on her own for two years now, unbeknown to everyone else, after her father Charlie (Michael Douglas) was submitted to a mental institution for attempting to hang himself on a ceiling fan. Now Charlie is back, but it's not something Miranda is especially excited about. She's had to support herself these last two years by working a crummy job at McDonald's, but her life was at least been quiet and simple, now with Charlie back it's almost certain he'll screw everything up again. Charlie has always been more focused on his hobbies and ridiculous dreams, making his family pay the price financially and it seems two years in a mental institution hadn't changed that. Right off the bat Charlie begins talking crazy about lost Spanish gold buried somewhere in Southern California, but when his clues begin to pan out, Miranda begins to believe in his crazy ramblings and gets caught up in his quest... until they discover the "gold" might rest under their local Costco.
King of California is a pretty good dramedy about the revival of a relationship between a father and a daughter who never truly had one to begin with. Michael Douglas is brilliant as a semi disturbed man, making himself appear totally delusional yet believable at the same time. There's a balance of comedy and drama that doesn't overwhelm you and the ending is nicely taken back full circle to tie to the beginning of the film. At a run-time of about 90 minutes King of California is definitely worth the watch, a minority may find it boring, but there should be enough here to entertain the average viewer.
7/10
Michael Douglas's performance was what pulled me in to watch this one. I loved him in Wonder Boys, and many other films he has done like Romancing the Stone.
ReplyDeleteBut this one was kind of dissapointing, it felt like it was trying too hard to be a quirky indy comedy. Samething happened to me with Smart People, which I really didnt enjoy that much either.
I agree with you, on King of California, Michael Douglas saves the day as the crazy dad. He makes the film better then it is.