MovieChat Forums > King of California (2007) Discussion > 2 points- looking for input **SPOILERS**

2 points- looking for input SPOILERS

posted 16 years ago by nickles96
12 replies | jump to latest

I really really liked this movie ! easy to watch and the acting was superb.

2 things don't compute for me though, and i'd like your opinions.

first thing -- Pepper. He was busted by the cops on the highway, and they heard his walkie talkie going off (why in the world didn't he turn it OFF).. then they put 2 and 2 together, and figured out that there WERE actually other people inside the Costco.. ok. so now he's busted right ? accomplice to breaking and entering ? he helped Charlie and his daughter break in and commit a crime.. so now Miranda is off scott free ? they would make it appear as if she avoided any prosecution or questioning at all. i would think she would be held for many days while they sort this whole thing out.. and what happened to Pepper ? surely he would be looking at jail time.. would Miranda simply say both Pepper AND Charlie took her against her will to break into Costco ? i dont think so.

second - stashing the loot in the dishwasher. It's not exactly clear how much time transpired between that night, and when she goes back to Costco to make the purchase. (as described above, you would THINK she'd be held in custody for several days - not to mention, she has no home anymore remember ?)..
so she just waltzes in and buys the dishwasher. the unit right off the floor.. during all this time, not one person would have opened the dishwasher? anyone who ever buys any type of applicance will ALWAYS open the door to check things out.. this dishwasher just sits idle, with nobody at all ever opening it ? HIGHLY unlikey.. if Miranda truly IS held up for days after, there would be no WAY that diswasher would still be there.. untouched.. the only way in my mind this would work, is if it's the very same morning of the break in, when they open the store.. but that would be impossible since she would no doubt be held up by the police..

anyhow - i really enjoyed this movie.. these 2 nagging things are taking away my perfect score for it however.. would love to hear your opinions !

[–] schnee72 16 years ago

I don't really know but I noticed when she was at the store buying the dishwasher she still had a red mark where she bumped her head so that implies not much time had lapsed. I really liked the movie too. I would have liked to see what was in the dishwasher but oh well.

[–] BenAfweck 16 years ago

yEah the walkie talking thing angers me a bit. if Pepper had been waiting a little farther away and not in the middle of the parking lot or maybe if he turned off the walkie talkie [big mistake] - the dad wouldnt have died(?) and they both could have been rich

[–] davidsmith666999 16 years ago

If I'm not mistaken no one was talking on the walkie talkie till he was on the ground. So, I imagine he just didn't think about it. He was just trying to get away. He wasn't the brightest bulb in the basket.

Also, this movie was not about Pepper, remember he was dying (he talked about kemo when we first see him) I imagine that was there to let the audience know everything turned out as best it could for him.

This movie was about the daughter getting a life, and with her father's help she does. Also, the slip he gave her, came from that exact machine. So, it couldn't be sold without that bar-code slip. At least that's what the movie implied.

[–] gold35813 16 years ago

spoilers is right. you're spoiling it! the thing thats makes this movie so great is it embodies the essence of classic hollywood: it's impossible, fantasy, make-believe. i'm not saying, "it's a movie! get over it!" no, i enjoy coherence and unity as much as anyone. that's why i can't get into ocean's 11+. but, i don't think believability is essential in king of california. you're absolutely right about the plot "problems". there are more throughout the movie. i think the weakest part of the film is when miranda "explains" how she lived alone, bought a car, and worked at the age of 15. i could have done without the explanation because it distracts from the film, which is about pursuing a fantastic dream and ignoring the "real" world. notice all the references to over-development and sprawl in california? charlie ignores anything representing the real world-jobs, bills, etc. i mean, the treasure is buried under costco, a giant, sprawling warehouse symbolic of suburban sprawl, of all places. speaking of costco, let's compare this ending to the one from goonies. is it more likely that you could dig through 6 feet of concrete costco floor at night and find treasure or that you could navigate a series of booby trap filled caves to a 400 yr old pirate ship filled with loot anchored just off astoria, oregon? i think the former is more believable, but it's still completely ridiculous! and that's why i like it.

[–] thedeadpoet 16 years ago

Movies don't apply to real world logid lets face it.

Pepper drives far enough to run out of gas, but the walkie talkie is still in range?

The diswasher is stuffed with gold (let's assume) yet Costco employees casually load it into the old volvo without noticing the immense weight?

Costco was able to build a 50,000 squarefoot store 6 feet over an underground river? What zonging, zoning board, insurance company, construction co., code officer, would EVER allow development to occur in this location?!

I thought this film was ok - but it shined in the regard it showed ugly sprawl as it truely is - the economic engine behind destroying sense of place. What an ugly-car centric and just-like-every-other-town out there Santa Clarita has become. They should rename it Santa-bog-box-chain-store-pakring-lot-concreta. I am saddened by the montage of sprawl while Miranda describes the beautiful valley that the spanish missionaries fell in love with.

Why does "progess" have to equal sprawl?

[–] foto_flame 16 years ago

In retail stores, items that are preordered or bought are usually reserved for the buyer and left alone until collection.

I.e - a stamp is placed on them and it is left untouched until the customer shows up.

As for opening it, there is usually a display model in the store for other customers to look at and try out. In warehouses though, the stock is usually untouched. So it's plausable.

....and who'd have thought those 6 month i spent in retail would come in useful!

[–] ds69 16 years ago

Her dad obviously bought and paid for the dishwasher ahead of time. He stashed the small amount of gold he brought up from the first dive in the dishwasher then he gave her the receipt for it when he tied her up so she could pick it up later.

[–] Codernaut 16 years ago

Miranda used the credit card her father gave her to buy the dishwasher. I don't believe it was paid for ahead of time.

[–] seraSmi 16 years ago

what's wrong with just ENJOYING this wonderful movie and not picking apart every single detail? It was well written and Michael Douglas has his psych protrayal right on the money.

I say it was a modern day fairy tale, with an ending that made me smile and tearful and laugh out loud happy.

A very good film about mental illness and a man trying to make up for the lost years with his daughter.

I'm still in love with my jordan catalano .

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Jezebel823 16 years ago

My interpretation is that there might not have been anything in the dishwasher. It was just that he bought the dishwasher, which was his way of finally acknowledging the "real world" that she lives in where dishes aren't just magically done after being left in the sink. That was her treasure. His personal "treasure" had nothing to do with actually finding the gold, just looking for it and believing it. I'm not sure that all the stuff he finds at the end (the markings on the wall and such) were actually there-- I think they might have been in his head. I'm still working out this theory, but I don't think there was any literal treasure. As for the naked chinese guys... well, that was just a nice set of bookends for the film. Not matter how you interpret it, this was just a great movie.

[–] wnjf4789 15 years ago

Well first off the dishwasher she buys isn't the floor model. She picked the serial number out of the floor model's plastic sleeve. About Pepper, they didn't steal anything so technically he could only be charged with being an accomplice to B&E. I am sure he knows this which is why he flees to give Charlie and Miranda and chance to get what they seek. But anyway, this film was really good and well acted. Though Michael Douglas did remind me of John C. McGinley a couple of times with those buggy eyes.