King of California (2007)

I am always amazed at how many reviewer seem to pick apart and over analyze movies looking for all kinds of hidden meanings and some deep backstory. I think most people just watch films for the shear entertainment value. This movie was just a fun to watch with some adventure, a relationship story line, some parts of just craziness, suspense and laughs. Gee what a concept! And since it is not full of cussing, sex and killing should attract a larger audience to enjoy it. Some critics have written it too far-fetched and not believable. Sure, but no more than all the totally unbelievable adventure movies that have such fantastic action stunts that no human could possible live through. Hey their movies. Sit back, relax and enjoy. I'd recommend this movie to anyone.

A surprising heartfelt performance between Evan Wood and Michael Douglas. A very mature poetic handle by writer/director Mike Cahill.I felt the actual search for treasure part was nice, but it was more a journey between the repair of father/daughter relationships. Wood plays a very understanding daughter who's father (Douglas) has just been released from a psych ward. Gently nudging him back to reality, she doesn't judge or act on his peculiar behavior. But knows, they are stuck together no matter what. I enjoyed the very quirky unfolding of the story. We do get the sense that this could be all one big put-on by someone who is clearly acting on impulse, but it pulls back just in the right time to charm you. I liked this movie and am surprised it didn't get as much attention as it should've. Excellent.

I'm not sure if I can state this enough. This movie may not be for everyone. If you're looking for a film that's filled with originality and creativity, you may have hit the jackpot with this one. One thing about this movie is it's never boring, nor is it predictable. It's truly an original film, but I'm not fully sure if I liked it. It was a bit too cold for my liking at times, and it was the performances that kept me going. Your enjoyment may depend on how much you can get into Douglas's character. He is so loony he ended up being likable for me. Douglas has delivered many great performances out there, and this is right up there with the best of them. It was unlike any other character he's played before, and he nailed it to perfection. Evan Rachel Wood is just as good as Douglas. She is one of the most unheralded actresses going today. Her character might not be as dynamic as Douglas's, but she is just as vital as the daughter. Her excellent chemistry with Douglas was on point throughout. The finale was a bit a mixed for me. What I got out of the movie is this. It wasn't about finding treasure. It was about two estranged individuals reconnecting with one another, and trying to understand each other. The journey was a bit quirky, and I'm not sure it's something I'll ever watch again, but it was worth it overall. 7/10

Michael Douglas has just been released from a mental hospital. During his years as an inmate, he read a great deal about California history, especially the stories left by monks of lost treasure. One monk in particular, left behind a diary of his journey in 1651 in which he lists clues of the treasure's whereabouts. Douglas returns home and enlists the aid of his estranged daughter, Evan Rachel Wood, in his besotted quest. She supports them with her job at McDonalds. They pawn or sell everything except their house in order to buy the equipment necessary to track down the lost doubloons -- back hoes, scuba equipment, and so forth.It's a gentle family comedy, not a zany laff riot. There are no pratfalls, little vulgarity, and nothing raunchy or violent. The model of madness is fey and whimsical. There's nothing dangerous about the deranged Douglas. He's funny.And it's Douglas's kind of role too. He's superb at wild-eyed restraint. At one point he's about to drive away in Wood's heap of a car and she rushes out to stop him. She shines a flashlight through the window and when he explains the purpose of his midnight trip his eyes are so wide open that the irises are surrounded by white, as in a cartoon. I looked in the mirror and tried to do it myself and couldn't.Wood is less effective. She looks and sounds as if she'd just been extraordinarily renditioned from the streets of Sherman Oaks. She was stunning as an early adolescent in "Thirteen," where she embodied a sort of savage innocence, whereas here she's a generically beautiful young woman.The script depends a lot on the performances because there really isn't much to the story except air. One mildly amusing incident follows another, and they'd all be pointless if they weren't built around Douglas's obsession with the monk's leavings.The dialog is warm and funny without the willingness to crack the viewer up with laughter. Everyone seems so charming and good natured. Here's an example of one of the more ludic lines.Wood: (Shouting) "You think the world is only here for your own amusement!" Douglas: (Shrugs) "Look at the world." Now, an exchange like this must necessarily make a great big thud unless it's carried off perfectly, with neither party acting as if they realized its absurdity. And they do it.There was one sad underlying impression that I'm not sure the writers/director meant to elicit. I mean the striking contrast between the landscape descriptions from the monk's diary. They're all about pure valleys and unspoiled heaving hills and rivers and caves and rocks. The landscape that Douglas and Wood explore is mottled with housing tracts and strip malls. These developments seem to have been caught in mid flight, while spreading like some malignancy across the natural features of the land. Douglas needs to break into CostCo and drill through several feet of concrete to find the monk's river, now driven underground, hidden under a multitude of shelves with boxes of consumer crap. There's nothing especially funny about purity lost.