King Of California

I've always liked Michael Douglas but haven't bought him in his favored genre, the pseudo-action movie, for a while -- not after 'Falling Down' -- (although he was perfect as the calculating killer in 'A Perfect Murder', that rests comfortably and confidently in the suspense genre).

Starting with 'The Game' and continuing with 'Don't Say a Word' and 'The Sentinel', Douglas' thrillers have been variations on a theme -- the intellectual man of action finds himself painted into a corner and must use his wits to out maneuver his opponents. (He played exactly the same role in 'Traffic' but this, obviously, is a different type of movie). Unfortunately, Douglas' recent action movies have run out of places to go about halfway through and have turned to dubious plot twists in an effort to hold the audience's interest through the second half of Act II. I think, especially with the mechanical Sentinel, Douglas has risked alienating his stalwart fans.

'King of California' is a fresh-looking character-driven comedy co-starring Evan Rachel Wood, and (I hope) marks a turning point in Douglas' career -- he looks as good as he ever has and I'm looking forward to seeing this picture. Here's another version of the trailer (which I like even better).