Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood) is a 17 year old girl who for the past two years has lived on her own. Her mother abandoned her when she was a little girl while her father, Charlie (Michael Douglas), found himself in a mental hospital. Working at McDonalds just to survive has made Miranda more mature and a bit more tougher than most other girls her age. It's a lonely life but one she has become used to.
That is until Charlie is released from the hospital and ends up back with Miranda. What happens next is the story of how an estranged father sees the world in his own unique way but also how he attempts to show love to the only child that he has. In return his daughter learns to understand a father who meant well but has only made their lives more difficult for the both of them.
King of California can easily be described as a comedy/adventure movie and in many ways it actually is both of these. However there is a greater story being told which is how Charlie, a failure in almost every way, tries to reach out to the daughter who he doesn't really know anymore. In return Miranda has to learn that her father, for better or worse, is who he is and she must accept his quirks if she is to understand him.
The quest for missing Spanish Gold, which is found underneath a Costco of all places, serves as the means to bring the two closer together. 17th century California, filled with Native Americans and wide open spaces, shows little resemblance to 21st century California which is now filled with endless suburbs, highways, and other such modern day creations. Charlie drags Miranda from location to location and slowly ends up convincing her, to some degree, that perhaps there actually is gold to be found somewhere. Miranda discovers that she does want to believe in her father but perhaps more of a need for him to be right at least once in his life. She is a hesitant follower but eventually sees the search as a way to understand a man she doesn't really know.
The gold is found but that's not the real conclusion for either Charlie or Miranda. Charlie explains that the whole search was made for Miranda's sake. In that sense Charlie succeeds in showing love to the daughter that he had in effect abandoned long ago as well as giving her a life that she otherwise never would have had. Miranda in return finally realizes that she does love her father and that he was right about at least one thing in his life. (Well, two if you include the naked swimming Chinese men he speaks of earlier in the movie.)
If there is a complaint to be made of King of California it's that it seems to move much too fast. There is a lot left out in terms of what the relationship was between Miranda and her mother and how his wife's leaving could have affected Charlie's mental state. There are hints of Charlie's past adventures but we never really hear of them and how they also could have affected him. This doesn't ruin the movie but a better explanation could have given more to the plot and the characters.
A moving story about how love finds even the strangest way to reveal itself, King of California is a good movie that shows how two very distant people can still be drawn together.
7/10
That is until Charlie is released from the hospital and ends up back with Miranda. What happens next is the story of how an estranged father sees the world in his own unique way but also how he attempts to show love to the only child that he has. In return his daughter learns to understand a father who meant well but has only made their lives more difficult for the both of them.
King of California can easily be described as a comedy/adventure movie and in many ways it actually is both of these. However there is a greater story being told which is how Charlie, a failure in almost every way, tries to reach out to the daughter who he doesn't really know anymore. In return Miranda has to learn that her father, for better or worse, is who he is and she must accept his quirks if she is to understand him.
The quest for missing Spanish Gold, which is found underneath a Costco of all places, serves as the means to bring the two closer together. 17th century California, filled with Native Americans and wide open spaces, shows little resemblance to 21st century California which is now filled with endless suburbs, highways, and other such modern day creations. Charlie drags Miranda from location to location and slowly ends up convincing her, to some degree, that perhaps there actually is gold to be found somewhere. Miranda discovers that she does want to believe in her father but perhaps more of a need for him to be right at least once in his life. She is a hesitant follower but eventually sees the search as a way to understand a man she doesn't really know.
The gold is found but that's not the real conclusion for either Charlie or Miranda. Charlie explains that the whole search was made for Miranda's sake. In that sense Charlie succeeds in showing love to the daughter that he had in effect abandoned long ago as well as giving her a life that she otherwise never would have had. Miranda in return finally realizes that she does love her father and that he was right about at least one thing in his life. (Well, two if you include the naked swimming Chinese men he speaks of earlier in the movie.)
If there is a complaint to be made of King of California it's that it seems to move much too fast. There is a lot left out in terms of what the relationship was between Miranda and her mother and how his wife's leaving could have affected Charlie's mental state. There are hints of Charlie's past adventures but we never really hear of them and how they also could have affected him. This doesn't ruin the movie but a better explanation could have given more to the plot and the characters.
A moving story about how love finds even the strangest way to reveal itself, King of California is a good movie that shows how two very distant people can still be drawn together.
7/10