"Catastrophe equals opportunity..."
That's one of the many lines quoted by Charlie, who is played by Michael Douglas. I've always liked Michael Douglas as an actor. Out of all his films, there are a couple of roles that really show him at his best. For me, those would be William Foster in Falling Down and Grady Tripp in Wonder Boys. Well, after seeing him play Charlie in King Of California, I have to say this is also one of his top roles. After spending time in a mental institution, Charlie is going back to live with his teenage daughter. Charlie is the kind of guy who appears unstable and delusional at times. His teenage daughter Miranda, is not. She's practically the complete opposite of him. Even though she is just turning 17, she took on the responsibility of maintaining their house, and getting a job to pay the bills while Charlie was away. Seeing these two personalities clash together in each scene is quite comical. It gets especially funny when Charlie follows his recent obsession with searching for lost treasure. Thinking that this is another one of his delusional phases, Miranda goes along with him, not taking it seriously. That's up until Charlie claims the treasure is buried under a Costco, and plans on breaking in to find it! This is more than a story about some guy's whacked out idea to dig for treasure in a Costco. It's about an odd (but caring) relationship between a father and daughter, along with the high cost of following your passion, even if you look crazy doing it. Sure, we may laugh at Charlie for pursuing a crazy idea like this. But is it any more crazy than the millions of people who settle for pursuing the "American Dream", and as a result choke whatever passion for living they had? Those are some interesting questions this film raises.
Overall, King Of California pulls off being inspirational, funny, and sad all in one, making it a very clever film.
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