King of California
Encyclopedia
King of California is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Mike Cahill. It is his debut as a screenwriter and director. The film premiered on January 24, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
and opened in limited release
in North America on September 14, 2007. The film stars Michael Douglas
and Evan Rachel Wood
.
) has been abandoned by her mother, and has dropped out of school. She is supporting herself as an employee at McDonalds while her father, Charlie (Michael Douglas
), resides in a mental institution.
When Charlie is released and sent back to their home, Miranda finds the relatively peaceful existence she's built for herself completely disrupted. Charlie has become obsessed with the notion that the long-lost treasure of Spanish
explorer Father Juan Florismarte Torres is buried somewhere near their suburb
an California
house in the Santa Clarita Valley
. Armed with a metal detector and a stack of treasure-hunting books, Charlie soon finds reason to believe that the gold resides underneath the local Costco
, and encourages Miranda to get a job there so that they can plan a way to excavate after hours.
Initially skeptical, Miranda soon finds herself joining in Charlie's questionable antics in an effort to give him one last shot at accomplishing his dreams.
After becoming involved with some swingers, Miranda then helps Charlie break into the Costco. Once inside the Costco they drill through the floor and then into an underground river. Charlie steals some scuba diving equipment, dives into the river, and then finds the gold. He retrieves much of it but tragically does not return from his last dive, where he pursues further and finds the missing explorer. Charlie left Miranda a tag and told her not to lose it. The next day, she visits Costco and finds the product the tag belongs to, a dishwasher. Miranda buys the dishwasher, takes it to the beach, and opens it. When Miranda opens the dishwasher she is seen bathed in a golden glow and a slow smile spreads across her face, a strong indication that Charlie has cached the gold inside the dishwasher, although the gold is never actually shown to the viewer.
According to Michael Douglas
, King of California was filmed in only 31 days. Mike Cahill said Douglas became interested in the project simply by virtue of having been sent the script. Co-star Evan Rachel Wood
remarked that Douglas frequently made the cast and crew roll over laughing at film sessions – so much so that entire scenes had to be reshot.
Charlie uses a Discwasher to clean his vinyl jazz LP.
, 64 percent of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 58 reviews. On Metacritic
, the film had an average score of 63 out of 100, based on 22 reviews.
New York Times film critic Stephen Holden
described King of California as "a sequel of sorts" to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
(1975), noting the similarity between the characters of Charlie and Randle McMurphy
(played by Jack Nicholson
) in the two films. Praising Michael Douglas' acting as "his strongest screen performance since Wonder Boys
," Holden concludes that King of California "is really a Don Quixote-like fable about nonconformity and pursuing your impossible dream to the very end."
Ted Fry of The Seattle Times
also extolled Michael Douglas' acting as "one of his stronger performances." Fry summed up his review calling King of California "a strong effort by first time writer/director Mike Cahill that will keep you bemused for its idiosyncratic voice."
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
and opened in limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
in North America on September 14, 2007. The film stars Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
and Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
.
Story
At the age of 16, Miranda (Evan Rachel WoodEvan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
) has been abandoned by her mother, and has dropped out of school. She is supporting herself as an employee at McDonalds while her father, Charlie (Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
), resides in a mental institution.
When Charlie is released and sent back to their home, Miranda finds the relatively peaceful existence she's built for herself completely disrupted. Charlie has become obsessed with the notion that the long-lost treasure of Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
explorer Father Juan Florismarte Torres is buried somewhere near their suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
house in the Santa Clarita Valley
Santa Clarita Valley
The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant...
. Armed with a metal detector and a stack of treasure-hunting books, Charlie soon finds reason to believe that the gold resides underneath the local Costco
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States. it is the third largest retailer in the United States, where it originated, and the ninth largest in the world...
, and encourages Miranda to get a job there so that they can plan a way to excavate after hours.
Initially skeptical, Miranda soon finds herself joining in Charlie's questionable antics in an effort to give him one last shot at accomplishing his dreams.
After becoming involved with some swingers, Miranda then helps Charlie break into the Costco. Once inside the Costco they drill through the floor and then into an underground river. Charlie steals some scuba diving equipment, dives into the river, and then finds the gold. He retrieves much of it but tragically does not return from his last dive, where he pursues further and finds the missing explorer. Charlie left Miranda a tag and told her not to lose it. The next day, she visits Costco and finds the product the tag belongs to, a dishwasher. Miranda buys the dishwasher, takes it to the beach, and opens it. When Miranda opens the dishwasher she is seen bathed in a golden glow and a slow smile spreads across her face, a strong indication that Charlie has cached the gold inside the dishwasher, although the gold is never actually shown to the viewer.
Cast
- Michael DouglasMichael DouglasMichael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
- Charlie - Evan Rachel WoodEvan Rachel WoodEvan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
- Miranda - Willis Burks IIWillis Burks IIWillis Burks II, sometimes credited as Willis Burks or Willis Burks, Jr., was an American television, film, stage and voice actor whose acting career spanned more than thirty years....
- Pepper - Laura Kachergus - Rita
- Paul LieberPaul LieberPaul Lieber is an American stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for playing Eric Dorsey in the television series Barney Miller in 1980.He also appeared in other television series including:* Californication* St...
- Doug - Greg Davis Jr.Greg Davis Jr.Gregory Davis Jr. is a young African American comedic and commercials actor of Jamaican descent.- Background :Greg Davis Jr. was born on October 1, 1984 in Orlando, FL...
- Chuchu - Angel OquendoAngel OquendoAngel Oquendo is an American stage, television, and film actor. In addition to his work on film, he also appeared in a number of television series including Nip/Tuck, Raising The Bar, Everybody Hates Chris and My Name is Earl.-Filmography:...
- Younger Cop - Allisyn Ashley ArmAllisyn Ashley Arm- External links :* on Twitter* on Youtube...
- Young Miranda - Ashley GreeneAshley GreeneAshley Michele Greene is an American actress and model, best known for playing Alice Cullen in the film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels.- Personal life :...
- McDonald's Customer
Production notes
Director-screenwriter Mike Cahill had written a draft of the script in the mid-1980s but was not pleased with it and put it away, focusing instead on writing novels. He turned down one offer to finance the film's production because he refused to shoot it in Albuquerque.According to Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
, King of California was filmed in only 31 days. Mike Cahill said Douglas became interested in the project simply by virtue of having been sent the script. Co-star Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
remarked that Douglas frequently made the cast and crew roll over laughing at film sessions – so much so that entire scenes had to be reshot.
Charlie uses a Discwasher to clean his vinyl jazz LP.
Critical reception
As of January 6, 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 64 percent of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 58 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film had an average score of 63 out of 100, based on 22 reviews.
New York Times film critic Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
described King of California as "a sequel of sorts" to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
(1975), noting the similarity between the characters of Charlie and Randle McMurphy
Randle McMurphy
Randle Patrick McMurphy or R. P. McMurphy is a central character in Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He appears in the play and film adaptation of the novel as well...
(played by Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
) in the two films. Praising Michael Douglas' acting as "his strongest screen performance since Wonder Boys
Wonder Boys (film)
Wonder Boys is a dark comedy film based on the 1995 novel of the same title by Michael Chabon. Directed by Curtis Hanson, it stars Michael Douglas as professor Grady Tripp, a novelist who teaches creative writing at an unnamed Pittsburgh university...
," Holden concludes that King of California "is really a Don Quixote-like fable about nonconformity and pursuing your impossible dream to the very end."
Ted Fry of The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
also extolled Michael Douglas' acting as "one of his stronger performances." Fry summed up his review calling King of California "a strong effort by first time writer/director Mike Cahill that will keep you bemused for its idiosyncratic voice."
External links
- King of California at sundance.org