Indie Gems: Elvis & Nixon

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Elvis is in the building.

I know, I've been lacking on my indie gems lately. In the years I've ran my blog, I've had them every single Friday, but these last few weeks have had none. Life has been busy, but I hope to get back into the swing of things with my indies now.

Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) decides one day he wants to become an undercover FBI agent to help fight the nation's drug problem. Along with his friend, Jerry (Alex Pettyfer) he flies to Washington D.C and attempts to speak with President Richard Nixon. (Kevin Spacey) Nixon doesn't want to see him, so two of his staff members (Colin Hanks and Evan Peters) goes behind his back to try to make the meeting work.

I thought the trailer was hilarious the first time I saw it, but the film had a much more serious tone then I expected. It still has plenty of laughs, I just thought it to be campier.  The plot does feel a little aimless, but it fits with Elvis' wandering about D.C waiting for this meeting. He does seem very aimless. But the film does build well for these two eccentric men to meet.

Michael Shannon is great as always. I don't think this guy has ever had a bad acting experience that I've seen. It's a bit jarring to see how similar Kevin Spacey looks like Richard Nixon in certain angles. The real surprise here was Alex Pettyfer, who I can't stand. He was actually pretty good here. I cringed when I saw his name in the credits but he brought a very human approach to Elvis' posse. 

If you're in the mood for a weird film, this one is for you.

Grade: B

Watched on: Netflix DVD

Memorable Quote: "....fuck!" - Krogh (Colin Hanks)

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 2, 2016 at 7:59 AM

    I love your Indie Gems posts, I think half of my 'must watch' list has come from them! Elvis & Nixon has been on my radar for a while, and my Father in Law is a huge Elvis fan, so I might hunt down the DVD for him :)
    - Allie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 2, 2016 at 1:44 PM

      Thank you for saying that. :)

      Shannon made a good Elvis, IMO. It's a different take since we don't actually see him singing at all.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 2, 2016 at 3:08 PM

    I feel the same way (about your indie gems).

    I saw this at Tribeca and chatted with the director. I always think Shannon is kind of spectacular.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 2, 2016 at 9:40 PM

      Thank you :)

      I remember you talking about this film. That's awesome you got to speak with the director. Shannon is spectacular. I'm always in awe of him.

      Delete
  3. thevoid99September 2, 2016 at 5:45 PM

    I do want to see this as I love to hear about the story of Elvis and Nixon even though there was another film made about that subject back in the late 90s with Bob Gunton as Nixon. There's a hilarious scene where Elvis and Nixon are having a conversation as Elvis asked Nixon if he has an enemies list. Nixon tries to deny it and Elvis says "well if you do. Could you put the Beatles in there?" Nixon says, "sure". It's a pretty funny film.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 2, 2016 at 9:39 PM

      They talk about the Beatles in this one too! Elvis hated them. (apparently)

      Delete
  4. KatySeptember 4, 2016 at 4:31 PM

    Nice review! Not going to lie but I'm pretty sure my face was a WTF emoji when I saw the trailer. I just had no idea what to make of it. But it doesn't sound as much of a mess as I thought it might be. :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 6, 2016 at 6:39 AM

      I wtf'd pretty hard at the trailer too, but in a good way. Like "I NEED to see this now!" I enjoy the weird ones.

      Delete
  5. m.brownSeptember 5, 2016 at 8:56 AM

    Once I saw Alex Pettyfer's name pop up, I assumed you would probably hate this movie...but in a shocking turn of events...he was good? Whoa.

    I agree with you about Shannon. The guy is not only amazing, but amazingly consistent too.

    I'm in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 6, 2016 at 6:39 AM

      I'm just as surprised as anyone that I didn't cringe my way through every one of his scenes.

      Delete
  6. BirgitSeptember 6, 2016 at 11:15 PM

    I've been wanting to see this so this has now gone further up on my list to see. I remember Elvis saying drugs are bad and I wonder if he even realized that all the prescription drugs he was taking was just as bad as heroin or coke.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 7, 2016 at 8:05 AM

      Clearly he didn't, which is a sad reality of probably a decent amount of drug users.

      Delete

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