Know this before going into the theater (or, if you're reading this later on, on DVD/VoD/et al) that this is a slight movie. It's only deep insofar as it tackles a subject that has been dealt with before in movies and media and will be dealt with again: the cult of celebrity. By this of course this movie has as its focus that meeting between Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon, and when the photo of the two of them was taken (which the movie dutifully tells us at the end is the most "requested" photo in the National Archives, which reminds me of TRL from the 90's or something). It's only 86 minutes long and only the second half features Nixon prominently (and I can never get enough Nixon, as far as seeing the worst this country had to offer at the time, but that's just me). But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a fun time.
A lot of it comes back to the celebrity and what impressions people give off to others. Elvis had to make himself "Elvis" whenever he went out in public - as he tells his friend-cum-assistant Jerry (Pettyfer in a sort of thankless role), when people see him they think of their first kiss or when they left seeing Blue Hawaii, not really *the* Elvis - and yet that was something that he carefully cultivated and wouldn't have any other way. It was one of the things that made him special to a lot of people and so recognizable, not unlike a comic book character (hell, along with his penchant for guns and badges he knew his karate, like he was prepared in case he ever got into a street fight - though as such a figure he might've had his reasons, but I digress). And likewise Nixon did this too, and put out this friendly-fatherly figure to the public while behind closed doors he was basically a total nutter against supposed Communists and druggies and anyone out to "get" him (this was also pre-tapes, but it didn't mean much of a difference).
So the meeting of these two men does make for some compelling viewing - first for the cringe-comedy factor, of seeing all of the guidelines that have to be put in place for Elvis (and that Elvis' guys, one of them also an ideally cast Johnny Knoxville, puts forward to Nixon's guys), and then how Elvis says 'f*** it' in less words and does what he wants to anyway with the M&M's and Dr. Pepper - and then secondly as something else. A lot of what comes down to men in high positions of power and influence comes with what kind of show they can put on to one another. While this is imagined, I suspect this was closer to how their meeting actually was, with the gift from "The King" to Millhouse a commemorative WW2 pistol, and them comparing the size of their, uh, "estates" of Graceland vs the White House. No, really, that's the metaphor man! Both actors are really wonderful at channeling what the public knows how these men acted, whether it was behind closed doors or in "public", while not really looking much at all like the figures. This is actually more Shannon's movie than Spacey's, as Nixon only comes into play when the letter/request first come to the president's attention.
Shannon once again shows why he's one of the most strangely compelling presences in American film, an actor who in his way is kind of attractive, but also has that ability to lunge at any moment. He does do that a couple of times here, and when it happens it's like "oh, hey, here's a SCARY Elvis, not sure we've seen that in movies yet," and yet there's also a vulnerability underneath it. The most captivating scene to me is one of the quietest, as Elvis waits in the minutes before the meeting as he tries to figure what he'll say to Nixon, and rehearses the tragic tale of his stillborn twin brother's birth and death (which is true - see The Identical for more on that whopper), and yet there's this feeling like 'is he saying this to be genuine, or is he saying it to appear genuine, to bring some of the "person" Elvis into the gun-totting, hippie-hating, Good-Ol'-boy Elvis? I'd say a little from column A and B, and Shannon makes that gray area wonderful).
Now I should emphasize this isn't terribly deep; the motions to try to bring up Elvis' relationship with his friends/co-horts like Jerry are alright but they seem kind of placed in here to emphasize Elvis' true lonely state of affairs (we never see Priscilla or Lisa Marie by the way, which may be part of the point) and it may be because Shannon's such a powerhouse but Pettyfer comes off just slightly (not totally) weak in acting comparison. But if you look past the fact that it's barely a story, more like a situation, regarding two men with delusions of grandeur and who happened to find power by using their images to maximum effect, it's fascinating and very funny.
A lot of it comes back to the celebrity and what impressions people give off to others. Elvis had to make himself "Elvis" whenever he went out in public - as he tells his friend-cum-assistant Jerry (Pettyfer in a sort of thankless role), when people see him they think of their first kiss or when they left seeing Blue Hawaii, not really *the* Elvis - and yet that was something that he carefully cultivated and wouldn't have any other way. It was one of the things that made him special to a lot of people and so recognizable, not unlike a comic book character (hell, along with his penchant for guns and badges he knew his karate, like he was prepared in case he ever got into a street fight - though as such a figure he might've had his reasons, but I digress). And likewise Nixon did this too, and put out this friendly-fatherly figure to the public while behind closed doors he was basically a total nutter against supposed Communists and druggies and anyone out to "get" him (this was also pre-tapes, but it didn't mean much of a difference).
So the meeting of these two men does make for some compelling viewing - first for the cringe-comedy factor, of seeing all of the guidelines that have to be put in place for Elvis (and that Elvis' guys, one of them also an ideally cast Johnny Knoxville, puts forward to Nixon's guys), and then how Elvis says 'f*** it' in less words and does what he wants to anyway with the M&M's and Dr. Pepper - and then secondly as something else. A lot of what comes down to men in high positions of power and influence comes with what kind of show they can put on to one another. While this is imagined, I suspect this was closer to how their meeting actually was, with the gift from "The King" to Millhouse a commemorative WW2 pistol, and them comparing the size of their, uh, "estates" of Graceland vs the White House. No, really, that's the metaphor man! Both actors are really wonderful at channeling what the public knows how these men acted, whether it was behind closed doors or in "public", while not really looking much at all like the figures. This is actually more Shannon's movie than Spacey's, as Nixon only comes into play when the letter/request first come to the president's attention.
Shannon once again shows why he's one of the most strangely compelling presences in American film, an actor who in his way is kind of attractive, but also has that ability to lunge at any moment. He does do that a couple of times here, and when it happens it's like "oh, hey, here's a SCARY Elvis, not sure we've seen that in movies yet," and yet there's also a vulnerability underneath it. The most captivating scene to me is one of the quietest, as Elvis waits in the minutes before the meeting as he tries to figure what he'll say to Nixon, and rehearses the tragic tale of his stillborn twin brother's birth and death (which is true - see The Identical for more on that whopper), and yet there's this feeling like 'is he saying this to be genuine, or is he saying it to appear genuine, to bring some of the "person" Elvis into the gun-totting, hippie-hating, Good-Ol'-boy Elvis? I'd say a little from column A and B, and Shannon makes that gray area wonderful).
Now I should emphasize this isn't terribly deep; the motions to try to bring up Elvis' relationship with his friends/co-horts like Jerry are alright but they seem kind of placed in here to emphasize Elvis' true lonely state of affairs (we never see Priscilla or Lisa Marie by the way, which may be part of the point) and it may be because Shannon's such a powerhouse but Pettyfer comes off just slightly (not totally) weak in acting comparison. But if you look past the fact that it's barely a story, more like a situation, regarding two men with delusions of grandeur and who happened to find power by using their images to maximum effect, it's fascinating and very funny.