King Of California

Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood play a dicey father/daughter duo in King of California, an offbeat comedy from first-time writer/director Michael Cahill that fits a certain modern Sundance prototype for films that are quirky but not too inaccessible and full of troubled characters with flaring crises of little to no real consequence. That’s not to say it’s bad. Or even that it’s unoriginal. The story is something I’ve never seen before, a weird cross between juvenile adventure and dysfunctional family comedy. It’s the tone, that very familiar, unchallenging bounce between featherweight comedy and featherweight drama with no real bite to either one, that rubs me the wrong way. There’s nothing really bold and exciting about this film. It all just rolls out easily with pleasant twists and turns and enjoyable characters, but nothing that’ll shake you to your core or lift you to a truly brighter frame of mind. It’s nice enough but nothing special.

Douglas does a daffy take on bipolar disorder here as Charlie, a recently released mental patient with the cutest little mental disorder you’ve ever seen. He’s mostly just unfettered and outspoken, particularly with his frustrated daughter Miranda (Wood), who’s been minding herself for the years Charlie was put away. Their dynamic is fun, sitcom-y banter mostly brightened by the role reversal of a responsible teen trying to reason with a spontaneous and short-tempered parent. There are some sweet moments between the two and some sad flashbacks to a more challenging time in both their lives that’s washed over here with all too much ease. Charlie has that very special brand of movie made mental illness where the greatest danger he poses to himself or his daughter is just some unwanted attention and embarrassment. It works in the context of this light comedy, but when you think about the situation of an unstable dad and a neglected young girl, you start wondering how the makers of this film let the conflict melt away so easily, with just a few sad beats in the midst of a screwball romp of pseudo-child abuse.

What’s mostly winning (and what saves the film) is that Wood and Douglas are each so good in their respective roles. They carry with them a level of commitment and sincerity that makes the whole film tick. Once Charlie has taken to the notion that there’s buried treasure beneath the nearest Costco (another delusion perhaps), the film settles into a nicely paced adventure with the two unlikely protagonists leading the charge to nab the Costco shielded stash. Charlie really believes that he’ll find the treasure, which he insists was left behind by the Spanish in the 16th century. Miranda wants to believe, but wants even more to have faith in her father and spend some time bonding with him after all these years. Their journey is fun to watch, sometimes mildly moving and very often a bit of a surprise. Even the dark moments here tread lightly, but sometimes a light touch and an easy to swallow film aren’t necessarily bad things.

Grade: B