RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / King of California
King of California

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

King of California (2007)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
64 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:66

Fresh:42

Rotten:24

Average Rating:6.2/10

Consensus: A quirky and often touching comedy about a mature teenager and her manic depressive father, King of California is a charming tale of familial relations and treasure hunting.

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Sep 14, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: Michael Douglas gives a bravura performance in writer-director Mike Cahill's feature-length debut, KING OF CALIFORNIA. Douglas stars as Charlie, a troubled musician who has just been released from... Michael Douglas gives a bravura performance in writer-director Mike Cahill's feature-length debut, KING OF CALIFORNIA. Douglas stars as Charlie, a troubled musician who has just been released from a mental hospital. He returns home to live with his 16-year-old daughter, Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood), who is not exactly thrilled to have him back. Miranda has been forced to quit school and get a job in order to support herself and hold on to her beat-up old car and the family house, which is right in the middle of a new development--but she has refused to sell out. Instead, she works extra shifts at McDonald's and has no social life. But her father--still suffering from mental illness--insists that she join him on a wild adventure in search of supposedly long-buried treasure, and soon the two of them are combing through California, facing danger as Charlie leads them on a crazy quest that takes them through major chain stores and restaurants. Wood (THIRTEEN) is excellent as Miranda, walking that fine line between wanting to believe in her father and feeling he should be hospitalized again--but she never stops loving him, even against her better judgment. Bushy-haired and wild-eyed, Douglas shines every second he's onscreen, dreaming the impossible dream. The outstanding soundtrack features songs by John Coltrane, Seals and Crofts, Bud Powell, Fats Waller, Yma Sumac, and Billy Bragg and Wilco. [More]

Starring: Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood

Starring: Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood

Director: Mike Cahill

Director: Mike Cahill
Screenwriter: Mike Cahill
Producer: Michael London, Alexander Payne, Avi Lerner, Randall Emmett
Composer: David Robbins
Studio: First Look

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 5 of 19

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Jan 29, 2008

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for King of California

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/13/09
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Tom Meek
Tom Meek
Boston Phoenix

For an 'adventure movie' full of quirk, King of California can feel a bit flat.

Full Review Source: ReelzChannel.com | comment Comment
08/25/08
Heather Huntington
Heather Huntington
ReelzChannel.com

ypotonikis ekdohis toy National Treasure (2004), poy aromatizetai katatonia aneksartitoy amerikanikoy, komple me to flyaro voice over gia ypokatastato tis afigisis kai liges ksekoyrdistes country hordes sti moysiki ypokroysi gia to sosto feeling

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
06/29/08
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

'The King of California' is an easily-entertaining film that features two bravura performances. Douglas plays the character of the loony treasure-hunter Charlie with zest, passion, comedy and, well, hyperactivity - its Jack Colton post-drugs, if you will

Full Review Source: Moviehole | comment Comment
02/11/08
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

...one of those efforts that's destined to improve on subsequent viewings.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
01/31/08
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

It's barely distinguishable from the many other independent films about eccentric people who do odd things, but hey, it ain't bad.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
12/28/07
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

Quirky dramedy mixes humor and mature themes.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
11/01/07
Sandie Angulo Chen
Sandie Angulo Chen
Common Sense Media

The clunky King of California leaves you with all the satisfaction of hitting caliche in your backyard.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
11/01/07
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

The story is simple, sometimes to a fault, and ultimately Cahill doesn’t quite pull off all of the majesty that he attempts. But, I’m excited to see what he’ll come up with next.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/20/07
Toddy Burton
Toddy Burton
Austin Chronicle

The most remarkable thing about King of California is how the characters grow on you, and how their quixotic quest becomes ours.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
10/12/07
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As scripted and directed by Mike Cahill, King of California reveals itself to be a moving, bemusing gem embellished by standout work from Douglas and the habitually marvellous Evan Rachel Wood.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
10/12/07
Kevin Williamson
Kevin Williamson
Jam! Movies

The performances by Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood are the highlight of this comedy-drama.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
10/12/07
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

King of California means to be the jewel in the crown of indie-flick quirkiness, but it's really just a bauble with ambition.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
10/12/07
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film is really at its best when it's dealing with the dysfunctional father-daughter relationship. Douglas and Wood's believable character dynamic certainly helps.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/11/07
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Michael Douglas is getting all the praise ... but Rachael Evan Wood is just as good ...

Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
10/11/07
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

[A] small but cuddly film.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
10/11/07
Adam Bregman
Adam Bregman
Orlando Weekly

The success of those sequences only underline how good the film might have been if it wasn't so busy trying to be cute.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
10/10/07
Geoff Berkshire
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/06/07
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Writer-director Mike Cahill explores Charlie's foolishness with funny-sad fondness.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
10/05/07
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

Latest News for King of California

September 13, 2007: Critical Consensus: Brave One Isn't Tops, Mr. Woodcock is Flaccid, Hunting Party is Busted
This week at the movies, we've got vigilantes (The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster), gym teachers (Mr. Woodcock starring Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon), war... More...

September 09, 2007: Trailer & Poster review. Opens in new window
More...

January 30, 2007: Sundance Reviews: Short and Sweet, A Review Roundup
We know some of you hate reading those cumbersome long reviews, so here's a gaggle of Sundance screening write-ups in three sentences or less. See if you can look forward to... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…
19% 19% Transformers: Revenge …
55% 55% Orphan
43% 43% The Proposal
26% 26% Land of the Lost

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
98% 98% Up
88% 88% Ballast
67% 67% The Merry Gentleman

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

60+ New Moon pics

60+ New Moon pics

You want Twilight images? We got 'em!

Transylmania

Transylmania

Cheeky trailer for the vampire comedy!

John Cusack

John Cusack

We list his 10 top rated movies!

Salt trailer

Salt trailer

Angelina Jolie! Espionage! Check it out!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Rachel McAdams Rumored for Spider-Man 4 Source: Mania.com
126
  • Danny Elfman Leaves The Wolfman Source: Cinemusic.net
22
  • Oldboy Remake Rumored Dead Source: Latino Review
14
  • Francis Lawrence Directing a Futuristic Sgt. Rock Source: Hollywood Reporter
2
  • Can Avatar Make Money? Source: New York Times
97
  • Robert Pattinson Says Breaking Dawn Could Roll in Fall 2010 Source: Collider.com
34
  • Joe Johnston Talks The Wolfman Source: Ain't It Cool News
8
  • Jason Schwartzman Talks Scott Pilgrim Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear
102
  • J.J. Abrams Producing Micronauts Movie? Source: Wall Street Journal
11
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Critics Consensus: A Christmas Carol Dazzles But Disappoints
43
  • Total Recall: John Cusack's Best Movies
42
  • Ho-ho-horror! 10 Scary Christmas Movies
36
  • RT on DVD: Up, the Ultimate Watchmen Cut, and More
36
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear
34
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Christmas Carol Tops, Precious Rocks
32
  • Friday Harvest: Prince of Persia, The Road, and more!
26
  • Five Favorite Films with Roland Emmerich
24
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
14
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
14
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
15
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
  • Emma Stone talks Zombieland - RT Interview
40
  • Michael Moore: The RT Interview
139
  • Andrea Arnold talks Fish Tank - RT Interview
4
  • Neill Blomkamp talks District 9 - RT Interview
51
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • King of California at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Worst Movie Biopics
Worst Movie Biopics External Link

Moviefone brings us 9 failed attempts at biographical films.

Top Cameron Crowe Moments
Top Cameron Crowe Moments External Link

TIME reminisces on the 10 most iconic moments from the films of Cameron Crowe.

November Films
November Films External Link

BuzzSugar wants to know which movies coming out this month you're most looking forward to.

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

The AV Club takes a look back at Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.