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King of California


King of California

This is a very good independent comedy with a lot of heart and a ton of wonderfully odd jokes. It has two great performances in it that give the film so much of its charm and make it an independent comedy that is definitely worth watching.

The two performances of note are Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood. They play father and daughter in the film, and they play wonderfully opposite of each other in the film. Michael Douglas does a wonderful job as the slightly crazy father figure, and Evan Rachel Wood does a wonderful job playing a very mature seventeen year old who has basically had to run her life. Their chemistry on the screen is just amazing, and supporting cast is also very good. Willis Burks II does a very good job as an old friend of Michael Douglas and he provides a lot of the humor as he talks and interacts with Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood. His slow speed motorcycle chase is great in this film.

The story is also good. Michael Douglas character is somewhat insane and he has this crazy notion, which he figured out in an institution, that somewhere near where they were living, there was some old Spanish gold that had been hidden away a long time ago. The story is about how Evan Rachel Wood tries to stay out of her fathers crazy ideas and schemes and then eventually ends up getting drawn into it. It bounces around with some great ideas and stories that just work out perfectly, and ends up being a surprisingly touching film.

This comedy really does have a strong indie feel to it, it is nothing like Step Brothers which uses too many typical jokes. King of California builds up its jokes and you have to remember things that have gone on early in the film for the punch line that would come considerably later. It relies on odd quirks of the characters, obviously most notably the crazy person in Michael Douglas.

Overall I liked this film a lot. It isn't a comedy for all people as it moves fairly slowly and doesn't have a lot of the sophomoric humor that ends up being in so many main stream comedies. If you like independent comedies, I highly recommend it.

Overall Grade: A-

Story: A
Acting: B+
Audio/Visual: B-