Who comes to your mind if you have to choose from the current crop of Hollywood actors to play Elvis? A slightly middle-aged Elvis? If I had to answer, I wouldn't have chosen Michael Shannon in a million years. That's a bold decision but I think it definitely paid off. Michael Shannon brings in the charisma, style and mannerisms right and has indeed pulled off an Elvis eloquently.
Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) once had an impulsive thought to become a Federal Agent of the United States to play his part fighting against drug culture in America. With this in mind, he travels to Washington with a couple of his associates and directly walks to the White House gate, handover a handwritten letter addressed to the President at the gate. Once seen by Krogh (Colin Hanks) a bureaucrat working directly with President Nixon envisions a win-win situation if they collaborate with Elvis and pushes the idea forward. What happens when one of the world's most loved personalities and the other most hated (not quite by then) personalities meet?
While the actual incident has happened (by the proof of the original photos from National Archives), the journey towards that incident may not be as accurate since it involves multiple perceptions and opinions which is quite difficult to gather honestly. The treatment is understandably and appropriately light-hearted with an excellent background score right from the start. The revelation however is Michael Shannon's portrayal of the King which blew me away. I have been a follower of this guy who has been choosing smart and independent scripts very intelligently where the plot and execution are generally quite good and he has a good scope for performance too. This movie is no different. Since the movie is driven from Elvis's perspective, the character obviously has more screen presence where the eccentricity and aura are superbly portrayed.
While most of the first half of the movie is about the setup of this meeting and what each character does to make this happen, the screen comes to life once both the famous personalities finally meet. Considering Nixon is down and out and has been portrayed much worse in other sections of the media, giving a higher hand to Elvis might be OK here. But if Nixon was a President who got down from the office respectfully, even though the incident was true - it might have never seen the light of the day. Elvis making a mockery of the President of the United States shown as true story released in America was never going to happen with any other president. Colin Hanks does an adequate job as President's associate but the character Jerry (Alex Pettyfer) who is an Elvis associate could have done a lot more. Last but not the least, Kevin Spacey is a veteran in Hollywood and having seen a lot of his work - it is difficult to digest him as Nixon even though he has done a commendable job.
Fun, funny, excellent acting coupled with even better background score brings this untold story of 2 famous personalities to life.
Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) once had an impulsive thought to become a Federal Agent of the United States to play his part fighting against drug culture in America. With this in mind, he travels to Washington with a couple of his associates and directly walks to the White House gate, handover a handwritten letter addressed to the President at the gate. Once seen by Krogh (Colin Hanks) a bureaucrat working directly with President Nixon envisions a win-win situation if they collaborate with Elvis and pushes the idea forward. What happens when one of the world's most loved personalities and the other most hated (not quite by then) personalities meet?
While the actual incident has happened (by the proof of the original photos from National Archives), the journey towards that incident may not be as accurate since it involves multiple perceptions and opinions which is quite difficult to gather honestly. The treatment is understandably and appropriately light-hearted with an excellent background score right from the start. The revelation however is Michael Shannon's portrayal of the King which blew me away. I have been a follower of this guy who has been choosing smart and independent scripts very intelligently where the plot and execution are generally quite good and he has a good scope for performance too. This movie is no different. Since the movie is driven from Elvis's perspective, the character obviously has more screen presence where the eccentricity and aura are superbly portrayed.
While most of the first half of the movie is about the setup of this meeting and what each character does to make this happen, the screen comes to life once both the famous personalities finally meet. Considering Nixon is down and out and has been portrayed much worse in other sections of the media, giving a higher hand to Elvis might be OK here. But if Nixon was a President who got down from the office respectfully, even though the incident was true - it might have never seen the light of the day. Elvis making a mockery of the President of the United States shown as true story released in America was never going to happen with any other president. Colin Hanks does an adequate job as President's associate but the character Jerry (Alex Pettyfer) who is an Elvis associate could have done a lot more. Last but not the least, Kevin Spacey is a veteran in Hollywood and having seen a lot of his work - it is difficult to digest him as Nixon even though he has done a commendable job.
Fun, funny, excellent acting coupled with even better background score brings this untold story of 2 famous personalities to life.