First things first. Go here and watch that 15-30000 times. Trust me, it’s for the good of the site. Ok, now then onto the business at hand.
Available at Amazon.com
Directors
Mike Cahill
Cast
Michael Douglas – Charlie
Evan Rachel Wood – Miranda
Release Date: January 29th
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
The Movie
This is the story of a father (Douglas) and daughter (Wood) who embark on a hunt for lost treasure, because, as Miranda says, “Who doesn’t want to believe in hidden treasure?” And really, who doesn’t? That’s the reason the National Treasure movies have been as big of hits as they are and it’s even part of the reasoning behind the success of the Pirates trilogy. But this movie is different than the other movies of the treasure hunting genre, as it’s not just a treasure hunt, it also tells the much deeper story of a father and daughter working to repair their relationship.
At the start of the movie Charlie has just been released from a mental hospital where he spent the last two years. Because her mother left when she was a younger child, this left Miranda to fend for herself at the age of 15. So she got a job working at McDonalds and in the two years she was alone, she developed a nice quiet life she had come to enjoy. This is all shattered when her father is released from the hospital and on the ride home he already shows he might not be fully recovered as he starts laughing about Chinese men who wash onto the beaches in California.
After a few days Charlie starts on a quest to find a buried treasure that he feels he can find by following the journal of a 17th century Spanish settler. Miranda is skeptical but because he is her father and all she has, she encourages him and follows him around on his quest to find the treasure which leads them right to their local Costco where Charlie believes the treasure is buried.
The movie has a few flashbacks to Miranda’s childhood interspersed with the main story. And both the flashbacks and the main story follow the same type of arc. Miranda wants to believe him, Miranda gets crushed by something bad happening and blames Charlie, and they eventually reconcile because she realizes he’s all she has and she has her primal instincts to love her dad.
What makes the movie interesting, and different, is the flip flop of roles. In most movies, and in life in general, the parents are the mature, rational people who guide the children to do the right thing. However in this movie, Miranda who was forced to grow up quickly is the more mature, rational thinker who is always trying to look out for Charlie. And Charlie is the middle aged man who never quite grew up.
Both of the main characters do a fantastic job. Evan Rachel Wood has you believing the entire time she’s basically a single mother, except her child is her father. Her physical comedy is even quite good. And her facial expressions let you know what she’s feeling. But her facial expressions aren’t even the best in the movie. Michael Douglas is fantastically cast in this movie. His beard and his eyes just make you believe he actually is insane. My favorite part of the movie is the first time Douglas is trying to take the car out searching for signs of the treasure, Wood stops him for a moment, then when he tries to back out again, she says “I’m not stopping you, am I?” and his look is fantastic, huge wide open eyes, and even through the beard you can see his goofy smile saying “Nope, you’re not stopping me.”
There’s some good camera work scattered throughout the movie. When she’s in the Costco near the end of the movie, there is one shot that follows her walking down an aisle, looking down an aisle and focusing on workers near the end of the aisle, back to her, and then she turns around and walks back to a dishwasher a few aisles back all without cutting and staying in focus.
The sound is interesting to say the least, they went with a lot of older Spanish sounding songs. The songs fit the idea that this was an old Spanish settler that lost this treasure, it’s good, but it doesn’t really stand out.
A/V Quality
Dolby 5.1 Digital Sound
16×9 Aspect ratio
The shots are fine. There’s a slight difference between the steady cam shots and some free cam shots but nothing that’s going to make you lose your lunch.
The sound is good. The voiceovers are clear and all the dialog is clear even though some of it is muffled talking. They bring it up during the commentary that the sound was very difficult for this movie because of the proximity to the freeway in some shots, and also having a backhoe running in the shot, but even with that stuff, you can still hear the actors fine.
Special Features
Nothing ground breaking here.
Some outtakes that aren’t that great.
A making of that I actually liked.
A bunch of previews, I especially like the previews where it’s a movie I haven’t heard about and the end says “Coming Winter 2006” that’s always fun. I also liked the one preview that simply said “Coming” didn’t say when or to where.
The Inside Pulse
Great movie. Early running for my movie of the year. Huh? What was that? Happy Tree Friends was the only other movie I’ve reviewed this year? Yeah…well…still. King of California is a very good movie that will have you laughing at times and fighting back tears moments later. It’s a funny movie the first time you watch it, it’s even funnier the second time you watch it.
