This is How Movies Should Be Made

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I had a little trouble believing Elvis Presley would have been this laid back in real life. Michael Shannon's portrayal made it look like he was walking around in a trance most of the time. I'm unfamiliar with Shannon the actor, in fact this is only the second time I've seen him, the first being in his role as the vicious government agent in "The Shape of Water". I don't know if he was the best choice to play Elvis Presley; if Kurt Russell wasn't too old for the role, he could have done as good a job as he did as an Elvis impersonator in 2001's "3000 Miles From Graceland". Shannon appears rail thin as Presley, with a skeletal face that looked to me like a cross between Don Imus and Boris Karloff. As for Kevin Spacey portraying Richard Nixon, I thought the characterization came off as more of a caricature than a real impersonation of the former President. He probably used Nixon's language appropriately, but I don't envision Nixon laying all over his desk the way Spacey did in the story. He almost looked like a reptile looking for his next meal, and rather creepy at that.It's pretty difficult to imagine that the way Elvis Presley got to see Richard Nixon occurred along the lines depicted in this story. One of the things I got a kick out of and reflected on was how Elvis imagined 1970 as a 'make or break time' for the country, what with rampant drug use escalating and massive demonstrations against the war in Vietnam. And I thought to myself, has there ever been a time in recent memory when it didn't seem like a make or break time for America? And we always manage to work our way through it, just like we will in the present day.One thing for sure though, if you're interested in this story as history, it will breeze by in what seems a matter of minutes. It's just under an hour and a half long, but it seemed like it was over in fifteen minutes when I watched it. So quick in fact, that there wasn't time for an announcement that Elvis had left the building.

Elvis & Nixon is a historical comedy-drama starring Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey. Based on the 1970 meeting between U.S. President Richard Nixon and rock star Elvis Presley, the film is an interesting look into an unlikely get-together of two highly recognisable figures of that era.In December 1970, the world famous singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) requests an important meeting with President Richard Nixon (Kevin Spacey). However, due to Nixon's busy schedule and lack of understanding of what is popular with younger voters, Elvis' inquiry is repeatedly rejected. Eventually, though, some strings are pulled and the iconic king of rock 'n' roll manages to secure a one-on-one with the President.Despite the relatively thin source material to work from, the film makes fairly good use of it. There are some scenes in the film that feel like they were added to pad out the runtime to a reasonable movie-length rather than expand upon the story. Michael Shannon's convincing performance as the king of rock 'n' roll is fun to watch, he nails Elvis' voice and body language. One can't help but feel amused at the laid-back way Elvis acts in front of one of the most powerful men in the world. Kevin Spacey was quite good too as President Nixon, but like Anthony Hopkins in the 1995 film Nixon, he mainly relies on playing the role through impersonating his voice and slouching, due to his lack of physical resemblance to the real person. Also, it is quite strange seeing Spacey play a real-life President after seeing him play a noteworthy fictional one on House of Cards.I rate it 6.5/10.

'ELVIS & NIXON': Four Stars (Out of Five)A comedy-drama based on the real life meeting between Elvis Presley and President Richard Nixon, at the White House in 1970. It stars Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey, as the two iconic historical figures, and it costars Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville, Colin Hanks and Evan Peters. The movie was directed by Liza Johnson, and it was scripted by Cary Elwes (the actor), Joey Sagal and Hanala Sagal. It was released on Amazon, by Amazon studios (following a brief indie theatrical run), and it's received mostly positive reviews from critics. I really enjoyed it.The film is based on true events, which took place on December 21st, 1970, at the White House. The immensely popular singer, and movie star, Elvis Presley (Shannon), just showed up there, and requested a meeting with President Richard Nixon. He wanted to ask him for a Federal Agent (at large) badge, so he could go undercover, and bust drug dealers and hippie problem causers. Nixon was originally reluctant to meet with the star, but he later reconsidered. The picture of the two together is now legendary.The movie definitely plays more like a silly comedy, than a serious historical drama, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. I'm sure the writers took a lot of creative liberty with the material, and exaggerated it quite a bit, but I believe the premise basically could have happened. Shannon and Spacey are both fantastic in the leads, and the supporting actors are all well cast too. It's a really fun (and quite amusing) movie, but it's also nothing especially memorable.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/Y0XE5jyxMFQ

Both of the lead players here, Spacey and Shannon, are very good. Some have criticized Shannon's performance as being overly mannered. Some say his looks are all wrong - but I think he captured the flamboyance (and the sullen glamour) of the King very well. No, he doesn't look like Elvis, but the crazy outfits and the swagger more than make up for this deficit. Kevin Spacey is a good Nixon - worried, homely and a chronic politician- even when stuck in an utterly bizarre situation with a rock star who wants to go undercover as a drug agent! The problem here is that the script (and the director) can't figure out how to deal with this material - is this a black comedy, a satire, or just straight storytelling, with a few kinky funny twists. The end result is uneven and un satisfying. Who would have thought to make a film about a such minor incident? A meeting of two minds - one clever and the other living in cloud cuckoo land.