King of California Blu-ray delivers stunning video and decent audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
At age sixteen, Miranda has already been abandoned by her mother, dropped out of school and has been supporting herself as an employee at McDonald's while her father Charlie resides in a mental institution. When Charlie is released and sent back to their home, the relatively peaceful existence Miranda's built for herself becomes completely disrupted. Charlie has become obsessed with the notion that a long-lost Spanish treasure is buried underneath their local suburban California Costco. 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 in this darkly funny, exciting and surprisingly hopeful take on the modern family and the American dream.
Parents have this advantage over us. We want to believe in them. And when we don't believe
in them, we still just want to be with them.
I love watching a movie starring a big time actor and forgetting that said big time actor is even in
the film by the end. That's not only the mark of a good film, but of a great actor, too. That's what
happened during the ninety or so minutes of King of California. Even though Michael
Douglas is only halfway noticeable as Michael Douglas underneath the scraggly hair, beard, and
generally unkempt look he wears in this film, his raspy voice, charisma, and style certainly shine
through in the opening minutes. By the end of the picture, however, he's no longer Michael
Douglas. Instead, for those brief ninety minutes, he's completely transformed himself into the
character of Charlie, a man on a mission only a fool could hope to accomplish, so it's a good thing
Charlie's straight out of a mental institution.
Officer, I swear, I didn't kill HD DVD!
Good Old Charlie (Michael Douglas, Wall Street), fresh out of the asylum,
moves back into his house with his daughter, Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood, Across the Universe). Miranda has been
working double shifts at McDonalds just to make ends meet during the past two years, struggling
to get by while her father lived in the asylum. She's saved enough to buy a decrepit
station wagon, and when Charlie returns home, encourages him to find employment to help
them along. Despite having
spent two years in a mental hospital, Charlie almost immediately shows signs of extremely odd
behavior. He's taken to looking for exact spots throughout the city with a GPS device and using a
metal detector to aid him in his quest for--something. Soon enough, Miranda discovers what he's
up to. Whilst in the hospital, Charlie learned of Spanish gold that may be buried somewhere
underneath the city, and his only clue is an old journal circa 1624, penned by a Father Torres
who accompanied a Spanish expedition in the area. After following the clues, finding an old coin
and broken pieces of pottery, the map leads them smack-dab in the center of consumerism, the
local Costco, underneath a pallet of Radio Flyer wagons to be exact. Despite this "setback,"
Charlie trudges onward, determined to dig up the treasure, even if it means setting up his
daughter as an employee at the store to gain access to the facility after hours.
Certainly, the irony of having the treasure buried underneath a Costco, not to mention having to
navigate a sewer to ultimately reach it--is not lost on the viewer. It's no secret that the theme
of the movie is that real treasure doesn't reside on the shelves of uninspired, cookie cutter
warehouses, no matter how much we value their wares on the surface. Pallets of Radio Flyer
wagons might be nice, not to mention the entirety of the "gold mine" that "has everything" that
superstores offer shoppers, but in the end they are just objects, things that offer temporary
happiness or relief but fail to deliver that most basic of human desire--to be with the ones you
love, no matter how awkward, crazy, or out of touch. While Charlie almost literally goes out of
his
mind to find exactly where the gold might be in the store, we see Miranda repeatedly longing
after a
simple dishwasher. She's hand-washed dishes her entire life, but that hand-washing still means
something to her--memories of family, notably her father in his glory days, that no machine
could ever duplicate. In the quest for the
Spanish gold, Charlie and his daughter rediscover what really matters in life--their love and
friendship and the importance of family above all else. When Charlie sells Miranda's car to pay off
the rent on a backhoe, she's initially furious, but her anger over losing a thing, and not even a
quality thing at that, soon subsides as she finds herself knee deep in the world in which her
father resides, a world in which only a nut could find true happiness. Well, a nut and his
daughter.
Unlike The Amateurs, another recent release from
First Look, King of California's
1080p, 1.85:1 image looks superb. The first thing I noticed was the great black levels on display.
Colors are also
rich
and vibrant. The film offers many scenes bathed in bright, natural sunlight, and the result is
a
pleasant, never overbearing, natural look and feel. Darker scenes, notably those taking place
inside
locales lit only by flashlights and other extremely low light sources, look nearly flawless without
relying
on
artificial brightness for increased detail. In fact, this transfers sports an excellent level of shadow
detail. There is good depth to the image, not completely three-dimensional but better
than an awful lot of other transfers I've rated over the last several months. There are a few
barely
noticeable speckles on the print in places, but it's in very good condition overall. The quality and
look
of this film reminded me of Employee of the Month and not just because of the similar locales. Both
have a pleasant, film-like look that recalls some deep memory of the way my brain
thinks
movies should look in the theater, and it's very nice to have this look reproduced here. Bravo,
First
Look. I hope we can expect more transfers like King of California from you in the future.
King of California does not offer viewers the option of a lossless or uncompressed
soundtrack. While the source material doesn't cry out for one, that doesn't mean there wouldn't
have been a discernible upgrade from the lossy DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks offered up
instead.
King of California is a primarily dialogue driven film, and it is reproduced with fine clarity
and
definition through the center channel. The film also offers a delightful score that is pleasing to
the ear
and is spread across the front soundstage with a slight bleed over into the rears to provide
listeners
with a
nice, wholesome, and believable experience. There are a few moments where the track
showcases
more than dialogue and soft music, such as a bulldozer scene in chapter four and some rock
music
that coincides with the use of a jackhammer in chapter eight, but such "heavier" uses of sound
are
few and far between. Besides, this is the kind of movie you watch for the story, not for an overly
rambunctious use of sound. The best that can be said about this soundtrack is that it allows for
full
enjoyment of the film, never distracting or adding too much punch and charisma to what should
be
an understated mix that plays second fiddle to the story on-screen. In that sense, this is a
completely acceptable soundtrack that may have fared slightly better with a lossless option.
First Look has provided a short but sweet serving of extras for this release. Leading things off is a
commentary track with writer/director Mike Cahill, cinematographer Jim Whitaker, production
designer Dan Bishop, and first assistant director Richard L. Fox. The crew discuss changes
made
to the script based solely on cost and the benefits to the final product because of the changes.
They
also discuss filming locations, difficulties in creating some of the sets, some costume choices
that
they would like to change, and some tweaks made to the image in post-production. Despite the
number of participants, there is a bit of dead air, but the track is good enough to make up for this
shortcoming. This is a recommended listen for fans of the film.
The Making of 'King of California' (480p, 9:59) showcases Michael Douglas recounting his
reaction to the script and the story and why he wanted to appear in it. He also discusses his
character's motivations and the relation to Don Quixote. Evan Rachel Wood shares much of the
same information. There is some good information in here, but fans of the film may be left
wanting a bit more. Finally, a set of outtakes (480p, 4:43), the film's theatrical trailer (1080p,
2:23), and some
previews for films also available
from First Look on DVD round out the supplements.
King of California is a fun and intriguing little picture that stars one of Hollywood's biggest
names in a role in which he's completely convincing. He turns in one of his finest performances as
a family man who uses the search for earthly treasures to ultimately discover an even more
valuable commodity--the love of his daughter. The film is slower in pace than most, but the clever
screenplay, excellent acting and direction, pleasing score, and infinitely interesting subject material
make King of California one of the more original and pleasant films in recent years. First
Look Studios has released this film on Blu-ray as a solid package. The transfer is excellent and the
audio mixes are sufficient. The supplements are a bit thin in number but rather high in quality.
Overall, this is a film that might just surprise most viewers with the quality of the film from top to
bottom despite its status as an independent picture. King of California has a lot of positives
going for it, including quite a bit of heart. Recommended.
First Look Studios has announced that they will bring 'King of California' and 'The Amateurs' to Blu-ray. 'King of California' - which is set to be released January 29th - stars Michael Douglas as a father who, after leaving a mental institution, tries to convince ...
