This is no doubt one of the stranger movies I've seen recently. Not a bad movie, by any means, it still didn't really manage to captivate me to the point at which I'd consider it really good.Michael Douglas put on an excellent performance as Charlie, a man just released from a psychiatric institution who is convinced that he's discovered the location of a secret treasure buried by the Spaniards almost 400 years before. The problem: how to get at it, since it's now buried under a giant Costco warehouse! Watching Charlie work his magic in his search for the treasure is amusing, and another clear highlight of the movie was the performance of Evan Rachel Wood as his 16-year old daughter Miranda, who's also learned to be quite the operator while Charlie was institutionalized, convincing everyone that she was being looked after by someone else so that everyone would just leave her alone. Her relationship with Charlie is complicated. Both Douglas and Wood pulled off the role reversal perfectly - Miranda essentially being the mature and responsible adult as opposed to Charlie's child-like qualities. Miranda is often frustrated by Charlie and sometimes angry with him (only calling him "Dad" when he insists) and yet over the course of the movie Wood also does a good job portraying her growing affection and closeness for him. The movie perhaps becomes just a bit too over the top ridiculous once it shifts inside the Costco, and I have to say that I was just a bit put off by the obvious advertising for various chains (Costco, McDonald's and Applebee's are all featured in this.) Still, commercials aside, while not captivating it certainly counts as quirky fun. 6/10
Review of King of California
