King of California (2007)
Directed by Mike Cahill
Written by Mike Cahill
Starring Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood
Release Date September 14th, 2007
Published December 12th, 2007
So many movies look the same, act the same and tell us all the same things. Rare is the movie that truly walks to its own beat. That peculiar kind of movie that may not even be a great movie, is at the very least one that keeps its own beat and maintains its own peculiar rhythm. That is something the movie King of California does. Directed by first time filmmaker Mike Cahill, this modern treasure hunting tale stars Michael Douglas as a manic depressive jazz artist seeking lost gold beneath a Southern California chain store.
The description may actually be better than the film itself but what is terrific and recommendable about King of California is the film's unique energy, a nervy performance from young Rachel Evan Wood, and a willingness to walk to a beat that is far off the beaten path. A little bit of jazz tossed over the wall of mainstream pop filmmaking. A much needed change of pace.
Charlie (Michael Douglas) is the kind of unpredictable personality that makes life interesting, if nearly impossible. His flights of fancy from becoming a holistic healer to selling his possessions to retrieve his beloved stand up bass and continue his attempt at a career as a jazzman were what kept his daughter Miranda's life out of control for so many years. His commitment to a mental institution when she was 15 was really just the rest she needed. Scamming her parents and the department of child services, she has somehow managed life on her own for two years and when Charlie is released, she braces for having her newfound routine upended.
Seems Charlie has spent his commitment time reading about treasure and is now a committed treasure hunter. The gold of a Spanish priest is what he's after and he claims to know where to find it. This means late nights spent in forests with a metal detector and days with shovels and even a backhoe. It also means losing her car when Charlie can't find a way to pay for the backhoe. The strain of father and daughter's relationship gives juice to the early scenes of King of California but it is only when Charlie feels he has located the treasure, beneath a Costco in the valley, when things really get interesting.
Mike Cahill wrote and directed King of California under the guidance of producer Alexander Payne, among others, who is the mind behind some of the most unique and quirky films of the last decade. The influence can be felt in the film's unique rhythms and jazzy soundtrack. King of California is Cahill's vision, I have no doubt, but the filmmaking has a distinctly Payne-like feel, and that is not a bad thing. The feel of the film, the warm southern California visuals, are quite similar to the dusty sun drenched eves of Payne's masterpiece Sideways.
Then there is the mind freaked, tweaked performance of Michael Douglas. Buried beneath a bums beard and looking his age like never before, Douglas gives his all to this character and the effort shows. That is a double edged sword. At once, the character is entertaining and a little too much to take. The character edges toward crazy caricature a few times and it threatens to tip the delicate balance of this rhythmically odd little movie. He is leavened by the steady star performance of Evan Rachel Wood but Douglas would have been well advised to dial back the Don Quixote for a more natural kind of crazy.
That is a minor quibble however with what is a sweet, charming and slightly peculiar little movie, one that will delight renters for a night in front of the TV. Not life changing art by any stretch, King of California delivers just a nice change of pace from the typical. Like a night of jazz instead of your usual diet of predictable mainstream pop, King of California is the kind of movie we need once in a while to show us what else is out there. To show us that not every movie has to be factory made to entertain the masses. For that I say thank you.
