I finally got out to the movies last night, after maybe four months without having been able to see a film in a theater. And it was a matter of some curiosity to me which movie I'd pick, being in Paris and with a lot of them to choose from.
I made the right choice. It was a new film on its opening night, and of a type of film that appeals to me on several levels. First, it was a writer/ director's first effort; those films are often magic. Second, it was about a crazy, flamboyant character, which appeals to me for what should be obvious reasons. :-) But it's also a film that has a lot to say to spiritual seekers, and about the spiritual quest and about maintaining hope and enjoying life when everyone around you is telling you that you're really in Hell and that you should "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." The film is called King Of California. What made me decide to see this film rather than any other was the poster for it in the Metro, which showed Michael Douglas' face, larger than life, grinning out from behind a Don Quixote beard with a crazed but somehow wonderful look in his eyes. Michael Douglas is not my favorite actor, but when he lands a good part and invests in it, he can be wonderful. He's wonderful in this film. So is Evan Rachel Wood, as his daughter and Sancho Panza to his Don Quixote in a deranged quest for Spanish treasure buried under a CostCo. So many good moments, so many good lines...it's a real gem of a film. It's a fable, in the same sense that Don Juan de Marco was a fable, and with a similar theme -- in a crazy world, are the crazies who are happy and having a good time at it actually more sane than the sane people who aren't? And although I don't think it's as good a film as DJdM was, it's pretty darned good, and probably worth a seeing. When you do see it, come back here and we can discuss the ending, and what's in the dishwasher. :-)
