Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I am a huge Elvis fan, but even I admit most of his movies were dreadful, and that's being kind. This one is a pleasant exception. Not only is it quite funny at times, but the songs in the film are well above average for a Presley movie, and Elvis himself looks and acts better than in the seven or so films that preceded it. He has a natural flair for comedy, as anyone will know who has seen his earlier film from 1962 "Follow That Dream," which was another under-appreciated Elvis film. He acts more grown up and the situations he's thrust into have a much more adult theme than in his previous efforts. By the time this film was released, these points were lost to most critics, who dismissed it as just another infantile Elvis musical. That's a shame, because it deserved a wider audience than it received.

Without the musical numbers of which no Elvis Presley film could be without, Live A Little, Love A Little plays more like one of those big screen Ross Hunter comedies that might have starred Rock Hudson. In fact the characters that Elvis and leading lady Michele Carey play bear no small resemblance to the ones played by Hudson and Paula Prentiss in one of my favorite of Hudson's comedies, Man's Favorite Sport.A chance encounter at the beach with a very kookie girl played by Carey leaves Elvis's life in total chaos. He finds himself working two full time jobs as a photographer at the same time just to keep up with his new mode of upscale living. Of course in the end she tones it down a bit when she finds true love with the King.Of course since this is a Presley vehicle, Live A Little, Love A Little has to have a score. It has four numbers the best of which is the song sung right at the beginning called Wonderful World. It's a philosophical type number, the kind Bing Crosby used to have a specialty of in his films. Sad to say that the King's time as film star was drawing to a close. Had this been done in the Fifties, these songs might have yielded a Presley hit or two.As usual Colonel Tom Parker made sure that Elvis was given good support by some veteran familiar players. Next to Walt Disney, Elvis Presley and his manager were the great employers of veteran movie faces who were finding it harder and harder to get work. Such folks as Dick Sargent, Joan Shawlee, Sterling Holloway are in the cast.Two more who play Elvis's rival employers who work in the same building are Don Porter and Rudy Vallee. Porter plays a Hugh Hefner type hedonist publisher of skin magazines and displays a certain avuncular charm.And Live A Little, Love A Little gives fans a treat to see singing idols of two generation sharing the screen. It would have been great to see Rudy Vallee and the King do a number together, but I suspect that the lack was by mutual consent. Vallee plays another variation on his conservative ad agency president from How To Succeed in Busines Without Really Trying.Though Elvis's vehicles were not up to what he was putting out earlier in his career, Live A Little, Love A Little is a nice bit of entertainment and the King's fans will love it.

Live a Little, Love a Little (1968) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A somewhat strange little film that features Elvis playing a photographer who meets a strange woman (Michele Carey) and soon has her becoming obsessed with him even though she keeps changing her own name. After costing him his job and apartment, she gets him a new apartment but it's so high he is forced to work two jobs, in the same building, while trying not to let the boss guys know. This is certainly a departure from some of the other films Elvis was doing around this time. For starters, this is certainly a more adult type film with a lot of sexual innuendo and even one psychedelic scene, which is something we didn't see in earlier pictures. The best performance of the film comes from the girl's Great Dane who steals the film each time he shows up. His early scenes with Elvis on the beach actually get a good performance out of the singer and manages to be very funny. The early scenes between Elvis and Carey are also very funny and there are a few more laughs throughout. Elvis is decent here but again, I wouldn't say he gives a good performance. Carey is the real star though as she makes her character really stand out and memorable. The music also is a lot different than we'd heard before but it works.

There is something quite entertaining about this movie, but I can't totally figure out what it is. It is certainly better than other Elvis vehicles, and I like the music. The psycho babe is about one step away from a mad slasher movie. I really wouldn't be surprise if she cut Elvis's legs off after drugging him for several days. After all, she does sic her vicious Great Dane on him and drive him into the ocean. Real light hearted and zany, wouldn't you say? She then gets him evicted and takes all of his possessions.She is obviously as loose sexually as a shovel full of peas. She even carries on with the goofy old milkman, for God's sake. Elvis gets a little wacky from mere contact with her. He apparently wants nothing to do with her, but gleefully moves in with her and socks Dick Sargeant for kissing her.I think I am trying to apply some logic to this plot and that in itself is very silly. The dog, by the way, takes top acting honors.The funniest thing about this entire film is the bedroom scene. Here is the King Stud of his generation lying next to a beautiful nymphet, who wants him badly, and there is a board between them. The Puritan's in New England live! Who would actually believe this? In real life that mattress would be screaming for mercy.Having said all of this, I do find this movie enjoyable. I really liked the attempt to bring Elvis into the Woodstock generation, with some colored lights and a guy dressed as a GreatDane.Of course, Elvis winds up with this whack-job at the end. I am not sure we ever really find out what her real name is, or her real marital status. The delivery boy, the milkman and her semi-gay ex will all be disappointed.