King of California is directed by Mike Cahill and stars Michael Douglas (Shining Through, The Game) and Evan Rachel Wood (Across The Universe, Running With Scissors.) The film follows an eccentric, middle-aged man (Douglas) and his skeptical, independent teenage daughter. He becomes convinced that there is gold buried beneath the floor of a local Costco store - and makes tries to get her to help him retrieve it from the supposed burial place he has predicted. ***

King of California is a movie that had a lot of things going for it - instead it ends up falling flat on nearly every front. What we get instead is a movie that can't seem to decide what direction it wants to go in. This isn't helped any by the fact that Douglas' character is over-the-top and annoying in every scene we see him in. Despite two great stars appearing in the film, their characters just aren't that entertaining. And did I mention the insanely-high amount of product placement? This film has potential, but it never quite manages to live up to it. ***

Easily, the greatest weakness of King of California is its direction - or rather, a lack thereof. Director Mike Cahill couldn't seem to decide whether he wanted to make this movie about father-daughter bonding or about the hunt for the buried gold. And as such, both plots come off as half-finished, poorly-executed ideas. ***

Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood are two terrific actors, and they've proven themselves to be in a number of roles. But actors can only be as good as the movie at hand allows them to be. Douglas, in particular, has been in an identity crisis of sorts lately. In the past he has starred in numerous excellent films, but lately nothing he's done quite seems to hit the spot, and sadly, King of California is no exception. His character here is more annoying than entertaining. Wood fares slightly better as the film's more straight-laced character, but like Douglas, the movie, wrought with problems, never lets her do anything remarkable or memorable. I love these actors, but this is an ugly spot on their resumes this reviewer would just as soon forget. ---

Image And Sound:

There are no major issues to speak of here. The image quality isn't the best I've seen on the DVD format, but it's certainly far from the worse. Sound comes across crisp and clear, with no major audio glitches to speak of. ---

Sadly, not a whole lot to report here. We get a commentary track with the filmmakers, outtakes, and a making of featurette. Again, not a whole lot of interesting materials as far as the extras go, but I'm glad we at least get some sort of bonus material.

Final Words: