| California King is a well-made indie crime-comedy that has a stellar set-up but gets a little muddled and off the rails in the middle. Our central character is fantastic: Perry (Travis Bennett) manages a mattress chain store in the small town of Nice, California. Perry is smart, friendly and easy-going, maybe too easy-going as he employs his best friend and incompetent moron Wyatt (Jimmy Tatro) and has done nothing for years about his unrequited crush on Lynette (Victoria Justice). | | 2025
Directed by: Eli Stern
Screenplay by: Eli Stern
Starring: Travis Bennett, Jimmy Tatro, Victoria Justice, and Joel McHale
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The crackling dialogue (which remains crackling for the entire movie) gets us started as Perry is teaching Wyatt about fiscal responsibility, and then the duo discover the mattress store has been vandalized with lewd graffiti. After the Sheriff laughs it off, new-in-town rookie deputy Leila Forbes (Briana Price) is assigned to the case, and takes it seriously. Perry would have liked that, but at the same time, Lynette announces she’s leaving town, so he needs to make a move now. Wyatt convinces him to fake kidnap her brother and then stage a heroic rescue.
It's pretty obvious that plan is not going to work, and indeed it doesn’t, while it starts out funny the introduction of multiple other crime stories (including Joel McHale as a drug dealer king pin dressing as if he belongs in a western) hampers the middle parts of the movie. Some adjacent storylines mesh with the fake kidnapping really well, while others are boring and convoluted and need the ending to play out.
The dialogue is sharp and witty, the music choices really fit the fun and up-beat style that the film has going for it. The whole production is well made. Some of the supporting actors aren’t as good as the leads (Travis Bennett is great) and some of the supporting actors have a hard time matching the vibes, but if you can get into the plot those things are easy enough to ignore.
The setting is fun – Nice is a real town, according to the movie it’s pronounced the American way, despite the actual town being named after the French city. A small town where most people know most people, so characters will pop back in since there are multiple connections going on. The small town also fits the burgeoning criminal activity.
The plot gets too involved and chaotic in the middle, but it does lead to an enjoyable ending even if there are way too many double- or triple-crossings going on. The pay-off is fun though, and Perry is a well written character from beginning to end.
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