Michael Douglas Is King Of Crazy In Latest Movie

Michael Douglas has gone crazy for his next movie ‘King of California’, but says that his manic-depressive absentee father hits a few familiar chords from his own life.
Douglas, who grew a ragged beard for the role, has claimed that he has become much picker about the type of movie roles he chooses since his 2000 marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones and the birth of his two children.

But, Douglas has some regrets over the time he didn’t spend with his elder son from a previous marriage. When he was wowing us with roles in ‘Wall Street’ and ‘Fatal Attraction’, he missed spending time with his son.

Michael Douglas, speaking at the Toronto Film Festival said,

“My older son’s 28, and I was immersed in my career (when he was growing up), and probably didn’t spend nearly as much time as I should have,”

However, his decision to star in ‘King of California’ isn’t an attempt on his part to make peace with his past. The reason is far less complex. Michael is simply enjoying having a lighter workload and chooses roles that appeal to him and fit around his family schedule.

The film see’s Douglas as Charlie, a single dad who is released from a two-year stay at a mental health facility and returns home where he finds his 16 year old daughter Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood), who has been forced to drop out of school to make ends meet.

Rather than doing the normal parent thing and stabilizing his daughter’s life, Charlie, at first, seems more trouble than he’s worth as he tries to enlist Miranda in his latest obsession, a search for ancient Spanish treasure which he believes is buried under a suburban Costco.

So why did Michael Douglas choose this role? Well, he has said it was a great change to ‘play crazy’, but that he appreciates Charlie’s wish to leave a legacy for himself and his daughter.

Douglas has said,

“As he says ‘I’m just trying to prove that I exist’, to leave some legacy on this planet […] I think it has that strong Don Quixote “Man of La Mancha” metaphor, to dream the impossible dream, to convince that person closest to you that it is true.”

The film is set in suburban California, which has been overrun by housing developments and big stores. First time director Mike Cahill said it was essential that companies such as MacDonald’s and Costco were on board for the film as he believed using a fictionalized franchises would ring false.

“I would have stopped the whose process if I couldn’t have the real thing,” said Cahill, in a recent interview, “We live with Coca-Cola and Applebee’s and McDonald’s, and to deny that it’s part of the landscape would be pretty false.”

The film hits some theatres on Friday. Make sure you check it out, you won’t be disappointed!

CLICK HERE to keep updated with the latest news, share a comment or problems with products and services. Follow us on twitter or read more news.