King of California
Michael Douglas certainly appears to be having fun as a treasure-seeking lunatic in "King of California." And that fun is sort of contagious, since the film presents a livelier, looser Douglas than we've seen in awhile.But his performance is the singular reason to see this comedy, which tries a little too hard to earn the live-action Looney Tunes vibe of the Coen brothers' classic "Raising Arizona." (There are even a couple of specific musical cues that suggest it's on purpose.)
Douglas stars as Charlie, a failed jazz musician who has just been released after a two-year stint in a mental institution. And Charlie's release is one more hardship for his teenage daughter, Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood), who has already dropped out of school and is now working at a fast-food restaurant. The last thing she needs is to have to look after her possibly deranged dad.
So she's really annoyed when he tells her about yet another crackpot scheme. Charlie claims he has knowledge about the location of a fortune in lost gold doubloons. But when he actually finds one of the coins, Miranda starts to believe her father may be telling the truth for a change.
The film is really at its best when it's dealing with the dysfunctional father-daughter relationship. Douglas and Wood's believable character dynamic certainly helps.
On the plus side, the film never takes itself too seriously. And while a concluding sequence is surprisingly dramatic, there's a quick coda that ends things on a lighter, brighter note.
"King of California" is rated PG-13 for strong sexual language (a couple of uses of the so-called, "R-rated" curse word, crude slang and other suggestive talk), drug content (references, marijuana use, as well as use of the "date-rape" drug), some violent imagery (including artwork), and some brief sexual contact. Running time: 92 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com