traveling-girl2
If you want to keep admiring the Presley family, then don't watch this movie. Elvis was portrayed as a spineless man who always did what the Colonel said to do. Not the Elvis I envisioned who was very capable and took control of his music, the musicians, and the arrangements of his music. Gladys was portrayed as a clinging, whining, unhappy woman. We never saw her happy or enthusiastic except when she was given her pink Cadillac. However, the acting was superb and, of course, Elvis' music was great.
kary-470-755783
Firstly l think JRM is a really good actor but not right for the portrayal of Elvis at all. JRM is a good looking man but Elvis had more than just good looks. JRM was only being directed to go through the motions, he wasn't tall enough to be believable.The part of the singer special or 68 comeback, when Steve Binder asks Elvis to go out on the street in LA,so Elvis could see that the modern 60s people wouldn't recognize him, isn't what really happened, it was the opposite & Elvis was mobbed, so for that untruth as well as not showing how Elvis was sympathetic happy & warm to everyone in his life & not just his mother,l feel the producers did not do their full research for this movie, they are not Elvis fans & should not be allowed to do that. I hope that just one movie will be made in my life time that diverts just a fraction from Elvis being a dark,moody,pill popper & tell the future generations more of the goodness in him.
comanchero101
Okay, I'll admit it. I never was much of an Elvis fan. The fact I was born just a year before he passed away, did not help things. See, I grew up with the phenomenon, the image of fat, bloated, hideously dressed man who sang and danced and apparently drove women crazy with lust. And with thanks to his many fans who'll sometimes do anything to maintain that image, I seriously started to doubt my own sanity when I could not find the one thing I'm always looking for when confronted with someone who's supposed to be a legend: a human being. So I had no idea why I felt I should be watching this particular bio-pic. But I'm glad I did. So what if Jonathan Rhys Meyers is not as tall as Elvis, so what if his lip-syncing is a little off every now and then? So what if his dancing is not as smooth or if his accent wavers sometimes? He brought vulnerability, sweetness, loyalty, generosity, insecurity and overall humanity to the man who was made into a King by his manager and fans. He showed me, finally, that Elvis was just an ordinary man with extraordinary musical talent, who put his faith in the wrong people. Like many had before him and like many will, even now. I was never much of an Elvis fan. Until I saw this. The King is dead, long live the King!
dbdumonteil
...why...??? well you know Elvis's magnificent song (my favorite of his) which superbly closes the film.Instead of showing Elvis' years of decrepitude,the film avoids the major pitfall of the biopics:dwelling on the sordid side of life.Not that this "Elvis" passes over in silence the warts 'n all side .Colonel Parker provides the movie with a true villain;he made Elvis but he destroyed him.Take Elvis's movies career :the singer did know what was good (Siegel's "Flaming Star" ) and bad (90% of the rest). He wanted the part of Tony in "West Side Story" and I'm sure he would have been quite good ,at least he could sing ,whilst Richard Beymer could not .The first part is the rise to fame till Elvis's drafted :Camryn Mannheim,an actress I did not know reminds me of Kathy Bates ,as Gladys Presley -Like John Lennon,Elvis's mother's death was probably the worst thing that happened to him- shines ,and along with Jonathan Rhys Meyers ,who gives an exciting performance and Robert Patrick ,the father at the beck and call of Parker ,they form a credible Presley family. Sam Philips represents music for the art's sake whereas Parker is only in it for the money.Rhys Meyers carries the second part almost singlehandedly.Priscilla,his femme-infant,Ann Margret ,the duds ,the British invasions (Beatles and Stones ,singers Elvis hated ,though he covered the former group's "Something" ),and the longing for something else (He was always reading strange books)which the finale" If I can dream" perfectly captures.Parker's character is probably caricatured ,but it does not spoil the interest."Elvis" is a made-for-TV biopic to recommend.
AD
