xredgarnetx
This satiric and somewhat surreal Showtime comedy details Elvis Presley's historic meeting with Richard Nixon not long before Watergate and while the Vietnam War was still raging, and does so in an oddly affectionate manner. Rick Peters portrays the drug-taking, purple cape-wearing, Vegas-playing Elvis who had long ago been eclipsed by the Beatles. Elvis sadly finds out how far over the hill he is when he finds his albums in the oldies section of an L.A. record shop. Nixon of course was the paranoid, vindictive, petty tyrant we knew and hated, particularly bitter about the protests taking place over a war he tells everyone he didn't start. Bob Gunton, a wonderful character actor best known as the chief villain in THE GLIMMER MAN, nails Nixon cold. In fact, the entire cast, right down to the White House security guards, are spot-on. For instance, Richard Beymer playing H.R. Haldemann will give those who remember the real deal absolute chills. And keep a close eye on the very talented Canadian actor Gabriel Hogan as Bobby, Elvis' right-hand man. Some real-life folks, including Wayne Newton and Tony Curtis, whimsically portray themselves as they help narrate the story. In the end, this is a movie about two extraordinary and ill-fated men, each fighting his own particular demons, thrown together under highly unusual circumstances. Director Arkush does an exceptional job.
fedor8
Initially very amusing spoof of (primarily) Elvis. The bit where Elvis gives permission to his brown-noser "mafia" to go home for the holidays is hilarious. Also funny is the premise of Elvis being like a little child and totally out of touch - much like Michael Jackson now. I was refreshingly surprised to see Elvis spoofed in such an irreverent way.The funny Elvis situations do creep up in the second half as well, but left-wing politics ruins it; a good opportunity was wasted to make fun of hippies, as well. Instead, Elvis is shown as a silly person, while the hippies fought for their ideals. Had they made fun of Elvis's backwardness AND hippie naivety/hypocrisy this movie would have been damn good. There is even a political "message" this comedy tries to impose on us: a hippie argues to a WWII veteran that the Japanese attacked the U.S. but "what have the Vietnamese done to us?". They actually left this idiotic statement uncommented! It's obvious that the hippie was speaking the film-maker's mind. But hasn't anyone told these idiots that America didn't simply fight against the Vietnamese: they fought alongside the Vietnamese against the Communist ones. A-duh! I demand to see a movie ridiculing Hanoi Jane & her moron friends. Do we have to wait for Fonda to snuff it, too, before we see that, or will we never see it? Probably never.
retroslim
I found this movie late at night on the Bravo station in Canada. As an Elvis fan a thought why not stay up late and watch this movie. I thought it was going to be a crappy movie, but it turned out to be a good movie. I am not sure how real this movie is to the actual events, but it did give a good idea of how Elvis must have been feeling about himself. This movie is worth watching and I would sit through it again. It might just end up in my DVD collection if I can find it on DVD. Do not miss this movie if you are an Elvis or Nixon fan or just interested in a wacky event that took place at a difficult time in American history.
Bill Campbell
Funny thing about Elvis in this movie. He leaves LA for DC in a red Boeing 727 (3 engines), then in mid-air the plane becomes a BLUE DC-8 (4 engines). Only Elvis could change a 3 engine plane to a 4 engine plane while it was in-flight.
AD
