63
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxWood is excellent, but this is a career highlight for Douglas. His depiction of the manic Charlie stays surprisingly grounded and prevents the story from being a naive celebration of mental illness as a kind of freedom that it so easily could have become.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumIt's as if the star (Douglas) finally gets to integrate all his onscreen personas, all at once.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversIn updating Shakespeare’s "The Tempest," writer-director Mike Cahill focuses on the magic worth finding between a father and daughter. That’s why the film sticks with you. It’s a gift.
- 75The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasWith Douglas, the film's shambling charms slowly catch hold, thanks mainly to his personal magnetism.
- 70VarietyVarietyDouglas is a manic joy, and Wood manages to hang on for the ride.
- 70Los Angeles TimesCarina ChocanoLos Angeles TimesCarina ChocanoThe strange, funny and sad story of a bipolar jazz musician and his long-suffering teenage daughter, reunited after his two-year stay in a mental institution.
- 60Film ThreatFilm ThreatThe film has a great visual style and manages to show Los Angeles in a fresh way that the average Hollywood eye isn’t used to, while, on the acting front, Evan Rachel Wood surpasses Michael Douglas in scenes, solidifying herself as an actor to look out for.
- 60The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenKing of California may look and feel realistic, but it is really a Don Quixote-like fable about nonconformity and pursuing your impossible dream to the very end.
- 40Village VoiceVillage VoiceHard to tell what’s more annoying in this empty character study of eccentrics and the suckers who love them: the braying, blurting soundtrack or Douglas himself, who can’t find his way into a man tortured by dull demons.
- 38New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithA caper comedy that forgot to put in the laughs.