King of California

Question: Why does the penguin always seem to be reviewing these little indy flicks that might as well be chick flicks instead of manly, manly stuff?
Answer: Once you've experienced enough adventure in real life, the movie version is too artificial to be appealing. I have no need to see manly manly films where men are men and kill each other with no mercy. All I have to do is turn on the news if I want to see that. This penguin prefers more intelligent fare.

Anyhow, back to the review of the latest selection from Netflix. King of California was a Michael Douglas/Evan Rachel Wood star vehicle. Michael Douglas plays (and looks like) Whiskers McCrazy, your typical crazy person that you see shuffling along the streets chasing his delusions. Except he has a daughter, Evan Rachel Wood, who plays a 17 year old who's managed to survive by convincing the authorities in various locations that she's living with relatives in another location. When Whiskers McCrazy is released from the mental institution his daughter has been living at home alone for two years supporting herself by working double shifts at McJobs. The end result is a father-daughter tale that ends with disaster and Spanish gold.

The good parts are where Whiskers and his daughter are interacting. She's an orderly youngster who is absolutely appalled by her father's manic conduct. But she also loves her father. Evan Rachel Wood does a good job of depicting a young woman trying to reconcile those two things, while Michael Douglas does a truly masterful job of depicting a manic psychotic who is, nevertheless, grounded enough to love and care for his daughter even if he can't really be a father to her.

The main problem is that the plot is pretty contrived, other than the parts that aren't -- like their home being foreclosed upon because Whiskers' name is on the deed (his daughter being a minor and all) and he runs up second and third mortgages that, being an unemployed crazy man, he obviously can't pay. Madness ends up that way, with everything being stripped away until there's nothing but the husk of a man shuffling the streets chasing his delusions. But then comes the contrived plot. I won't go into details here, but Whiskers McCrazy ends up dead, his daughter is a sobbing mess... and oh, did I mention a dishwasher full of Spanish gold?

So anyhow, watch if you want to see two good character actors do a good job with their character. Some of the scenes are genuinely touching, especially when Woods' character flashes back to her early childhood when her father was still together enough to make some real attempts at parenting. But don't expect anything earth-shatteringly great. It's a fairly slight film in the end. The penguin gives it three herrings out of five.

-- Badtux the Movie Penguin