Audience Member
So much better than the remake. Wish this film was more well known; timeless.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
It´s a creative and pleasant comedy regarging Elvis´meeting with President Nixon in 1970. Worth watching.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
At the very start of the film we hear: "The story you are about to see is, for the most part, true, and that's what's scarry".
This is very true. Elvis is not imitated well but it's still worth watching if only in small portions over time.
Nixon is played stunningly well even to the nuances of the man. THIS is a film that is like a time capsule, a look back in time when the country was emerging with a counter culture vs the Elvis culture.
[img]http://i2.fc-img.com/fc03img/Comcast_CIM_Prod_Fancast_Image/28/905/1320670372739_Elvis_Meets_Nixon_tms_h_Overlay_590_295.jpg[/img]
SEE the entire movie on youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNvcTQWdF9Q
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Elvis-nixon.jpg/220px-Elvis-nixon.jpg[/img]
The Story:
"Elvis Presley, bored with his confined existence in Graceland, leaves his home on his own for the first time since he was 21. He winds up in California and is convinced by an Anti-war activist that he is responsible for the drug culture through his influence on The Beatles. This convinces Elvis to write a letter to President Nixon asking to be made a "Federal Agent at Large" for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs."--- wikipedia
SEE the trailer here:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/elvis_meets_nixon/trailers/
Not a laugh a minute, it has some dramatic parts when Elvis bares his feelings to others, like "I'm tired of being me". The acting is pretty crude but I suppose up to comedy standards. This is not a deep thoughts type comedy, rather just a trip back in time when Elvis actually did make a trip to visit then President Nixon at the White House.
The Graceland home of Elvis is set at Christmas, which has been known to be his favorite holiday, embellishing the entire home with lit Christmas trees inside and out. While everything about Elvis is perhaps exaggerated for amusement sake, one can certainly buy into his antics, both public and private.
Like insisting on carrying on his chrome plated revolver on a plane, his traveling without money and barely finding a credit card he barely knew of or knew what was used for. Credit cards back then were a very new thing.
Traveling alone was NOT what Elvis did for he was not allowed to travel anywhere alone. It was just not done as he was too public a celebrity, but the amusing part of the plot is that for ONCE he does escape his home and his handlers and like a kid he enjoys every minute of it. Except when in his hotel suite he realizes he has never actually been alone, EVER!
At first I was disappointed in the lead actor's performance, but gradually I understood that the story was what mattered here in this historically based film. I could not watch it in one sitting however as I found it more interesting and amusing, at times very funny, in several viewings.
[img]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qQQPky5BzqU/0.jpg[/img]
One of the more unexpected treats for those that can relate to the period and for those that are too young, can see a time capsule parody of the man they still refer to as The King.
I can suggest however that you at least try to watch some of the film and see if it works for you, and it may not for a variety of reasons.... like Who is Elvis? In that case, see the film to find out.
Reviews:
1 60%
Although it is more of a cartoonish-ly caricatured account it is quite an amusing one...however caricatured and embellished,
2 I recomend this movie. I played a passenger on the plane with Elvis.
3 90%
This movie is fantastic. A must see for Elvis or Nixon fans, does Nixon have fans? It is comical and insightful in my opinion,
NOTES:
1 On the flight [to Washington] Presley met California senator George Murphy. Presley showed an interest in acquiring a Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs badge, and Murphy suggested that Presley write to President Nixon offering his services to help combat illicit drug use. Presley wrote a letter on the plane and hand delivered it to the White House at 6.30am on the morning of December 21.
2 Presley persuaded Nixon to give him a BNDD [Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs] badge, and after an official photograph was taken, the trio left, with Presley returning to Graceland the following day.
3 Presley offered his services as an undercover agent. Despite never getting to meet FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, Presley did receive a letter from him on January 4, 1971, acknowledging his offer of assistance.
Cast
Bob Gunton as Elvis Presley
Rick Peters as Richard M. Nixon
Alyson Court as Priscilla Presley
Denny Doherty as Vernon
Jackie Burroughs as Dodger
Curtis Armstrong as Farley Hall
Gabriel Hogan as Bobby Bishop
Robbi Jay Thuet as Lisa Marie Presley
Thom Sears as Bodyguard #1
Wayne Ward as Bodyguard #2
Rick Wharton as Bodyguard #3
Keith Jones[disambiguation needed] as Bodyguard #4
Robyn Stevan as Karen
Patrick McKenna as Karen's supervisor
Hamish McEwan as Wait carpenter
Julia Paton as Melissa (stewardess)
[img]https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRaw4XNGb_pWsNXEnTIwebWHErS4lIgkLH0QmUBFhcrBc3dDz5CeA[/img]
Directed by Allan Arkush
Produced by Alan Rosen; Robert O'Connor (executive producer); Vicky Herman, Peter Pastorelli (line producers)
Written by Alan Rosen
Cinematography Michael Storey
Editing by Neil Mandelberg
Country United States
Language English
[img]http://www.elviscollector.net/assets/images/Elvis_Meets_Nixon.jpg[/img]
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Just watched this on Showtime. Most excellent. Hilarious.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Although it is more of a cartoonish-ly caricatured account it is quite an amusing one...however caricatured and embellished, Elvis and Nixon is a story of actual events, and more importantly it reveals an aspect of American culture and leadership that every American, at least, should see...a quite worthy as well as a significant effort...
Rick Peters does a fine job playing Elvis who became a caricature of himself by the time the Beatles arrived...Bob Gunton interprets Nixon in a more caricatured way than Peters does Elvis (if that is possible)...of course Nixon is also quite easy to caricature as has frequently been done but here one feels it might have been funnier and more revealing if Gunton were able to play "Tricky Dick" a bit straighter...the movie is both a rather frightening while also an affectionate portrait of both these actual cultural icons...to balance both these characterizations is one of the film's merits...
Also the movie benefits from having other "real life" celebrities help set up certain sequences, such as Dick Cavett, Wayne Newton, and Tony Curtis (from whom Elvis initially modeled his haircut (that alone was an interesting revelation particularly as one thought that that began with white Rock-n-Roll...not to mention that Elvis modeled his voice on that of Dean Martin - Elvis looked back to create the future)...
Actually it was quite surprising that not a single respected film critic has written a single word about this film, particularly as significant as it seems...even if those reviews (as the movie may deserve) were to be primarily negative ones...
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This movie is fantastic. A must see for Elvis or Nixon fans, does Nixon have fans? It is comical and insightful in my opinion, offering some good entertainment and food for thought. The actor playing Elvis sounds pretty good but just doesn't quite look the part. Nixon is very good. It looks like they had a good budget for this film and it looks like Graceland to me and at least the exterior of the Whitehouse. It says filmed in Toronto though.
Well This has been a cult favourite of mine since first viewing back in about 2000 or so. Apparently with the lack of reviews on here its an unknown gem.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/18/23
Full Review
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