King of California: D

Joyless, monotone, preposterous, tepid, torpid, poorly acted (one note), poorly written (such plot holes!), poorly shot (completely unimaginative, considering the subject matter), poorly constructed (what the hell was with that little animation?), ill-conceived (what if there was ancient treasures buried under Costco?) and just plain dumb (did it occur to anyone that land is razed and prepared before they build those things?). Evan Rachel Wood, who gave brilliant performances in Thirteen and Pretty Persuasion, turns in a flaccid performance opposite Michael Douglas' caricature of the mentally ill. She's much to old for the role and he's much to simplistic. The only reason this film doesn't get an F is because I rather enjoyed the idea of people holding out and living in a big Victorian house on the very edge of urban sprawl. Contrasting what explorers from the 1600s experienced on the same land that we now see as developments and big-box stores is interesting. But I'm not going to waste any more time writing about this film. Skip it.