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King of California

King of California
King of California.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mike Cahill
Produced by Michael London
Alexander Payne
Avi Lerner
Randall Emmett
Written by Mike Cahill
Starring Michael Douglas
Evan Rachel Wood
Willis Burks II
Music by David Robbins
Cinematography Jim Whitaker
Edited by Glenn Garland
Production
company
Distributed by First Look International
Release date
  • January 24, 2007 (2007-01-24) (Sundance Film Festival)
  • September 14, 2007 (2007-09-14) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Spanish
Budget $10 million
Box office $1.03 million

King of California is a 2007 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Cahill. It is his debut as a screenwriter and director. The film premiered on January 24, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and opened in limited release in North America on September 14, 2007. The film stars Michael Douglas as a mentally ill man who believes he has discovered buried treasure and Evan Rachel Wood as his weary daughter.

16-year-old Miranda has been abandoned by her mother, and has dropped out of school. She is supporting herself as an employee at McDonald's while her father, Charlie, resides in a mental institution.

When Charlie is released and sent back to their home, Miranda finds the relatively peaceful existence she's built for herself completely disrupted. Charlie has become obsessed with the notion that the long-lost treasure of Spanish explorer Father Juan Florismarte Torres is buried somewhere near their suburban California house in the Santa Clarita Valley. Armed with a metal detector and a stack of treasure-hunting books, Charlie soon finds reason to believe that the gold resides underneath the local Costco, and encourages Miranda to get a job there so that they can plan a way to excavate after hours.

Initially skeptical, Miranda soon finds herself joining in Charlie's questionable antics in an effort to give him one last shot at accomplishing his dreams.

After becoming involved with some swingers, Miranda then helps Charlie break into the Costco. Once inside, they drill through the floor and then into a very smelly underground river. Charlie steals some scuba diving equipment, dives into the river, and then imaginably finds the gold. He leaves Miranda a tag and tells her not to lose it. When the police arrives at the Costco, Charlie is seen to carry a small but heavy chest, hiding from the police. He then jumps into the river again, where he pursues further, sees a bright light and swims towards it. Miranda's voice from the off says that his body was never found, although Charlie is seen still alive swimming in the river after that. The next day, Miranda visits Costco and finds the product the tag belongs to, a dishwasher, buys it and brings it to the beach in her old car. When Miranda opens the dishwasher, she is seen bathed in a golden glow and a slow smile spreads across her face, a strong indication that Charlie has cached the gold inside the dishwasher, although the gold is never actually shown to the viewer.


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