King Of California DVD Review

It's early February. A really good time for film lovers. Practically the only good time for film lovers. When we're not checking out much lauded Oscar favorites in theaters, we're cracking open our DVD cases in preparation to watch much talked about, albeit smaller contenders like or "The Assassination of Jessie James" or "Gone Baby Gone." But, wait, there’s also "King of California," a film that is not only small but a film that nobody has really talked about in any capacity, let alone awards. The little known "King of California" may have slipped through the cracks but it has the (fools) fortune of being released at a time when many of us are giving risky 2007 films a chance. So does it strike gold?

A virtual unknown entity in 2007, "King of California" may appear to be a straight to DVD feature but it's not. The film received a small theatrical run at the end of summer and settled unceremoniously in the under $1 million club. Critics, what few bothered to review it, scoffed while audience down right snubbed. This is a bit strange considering that the film has a cast that includes Michael Douglas playing crazy and Evan Rachel Wood doing her coquettish "Down in the Valley" thing as the trapped suburban wallflower who gets caught up in a grown man's world (does she have any other layers?). What’s more, the plot is not some esoteric genre showing but a warm and likable fable about a man, Douglas, who has been released from "the crazy house" and reunited with a daughter wise beyond her years. "I'm the one that pays the bills," she tells her deadbeat father while all dad can say is "I know, that's wild, isn't it!" She may have survived his lack of parenting but is now suddenly finding herself torn between trusting her sick father and "growing up" in the face of his childish newfangled "plans." Things go awry or, rather, more awry when these plans include recovering buried Spanish gold underneath a local Costco. "I can't believe I raised such a law abiding citizen!" Dad groans, mid robbery, as his daughter groans back, "oh? YOU raised me?"

The film may throw this kooky treasure heist subplot at us but it's really about a father and daughter connecting while trying to come to terms with life in an environment that suffocates all signs of life or free thinking. With a plot that has Douglas revisiting his "Wonder Boys" bi-polarity persona (which, of course, is always welcome as opposed to the rich bastard he usually plays) and a plot that revisits the themes but is actually more likable than the fun with dysfunction "Running with Scissors," "King of California" may find an audience on home video after all where these kinds of playful, pseudo-profound mid-life crisis stories bode better on small screens (and in many cases: small minds).

"King" works as a light comedy. Not much else, if even that. This is a case where a great(ish) concept and enormously talented star fall victim to an amateur production. Specifically, "King" falls short in is half-baked and barley focused commentary on commercialism/consumerism (tender McDonalds, Costco, Applebys etc. product placements have a way of undermining any possible rogue message on the filmmaker’s part) and as genuinely twitchy character study. Revisit crazy-hobo-genus-looking-for-treasure themed films like "Fisher King," "Joe Gould's Secret" or, hell, read a few pages of "Don Quixote" to discover edgy stories that really care about their respective characters. Stories that subsume their very artistic personality in the service of these wild figures and do so in order to connect with them in some personal way. "King" is what the "Fight Club" crazies would call a "tourist." It's fun and harmless, sure, but also sanitized, tame and not 100% committed to exploring its own insanity.

The DVD · Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC · Language: English, Spanish · Subtitles: Spanish · Region: All Regions · Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

A small amount of treasure can be found in the extras but it’s not exactly buried under six feed of Costco concrete. This DVD release may be the film's only shot to cultivate any sort of audience. Knowing this, the filmmakers give the potential viewer (if there is one) extras that include the holy DVD trinity of commentary/making-of/outtakes. All serviceable, none exceptional--which is kinda like the film. An example of stuff we don't need or care about would be: "While shooting, the McDonalds executive said 'why don't you have [Evan Rachel Wood] say 'welcome to McDonalds' and I thought that was a good idea so we had her say that." Wow, way to sell out! A little more useful are the stories detailing how the film was shot on such a low budget and how the writer/director basically got to do this film after winning a contest (um, I hate to say this but that kind of shows). The outtakes are fun while the making-over covers only the most obvious of details “it’s kind of… MAGICAL” Douglas says after proclaiming this to be “the best script I’ve ever read.” I find that really hard to believe but perhaps Douglas, playing a delusional character, was still in character when he said that.