It’s obvious why the editors at Rogerebert.com assigned me this one!
“The Identical” asks the question: What would have happened if Elvis Presley’s twin brother had lived?
I have more questions, the main one being: Why is the music so terrible? “The Identical” occurs in an alternate universe where Elvis Presley “changed the world” with awful music.
It sounds like they’re both the evil one.
“It’s not just an uncanny resemblance. We look exactly alike, we’re even played by the same guy. What’s going on here?”
ha ha ha!
hahahaha The lack of curiosity shown by everyone about them CLEARLY identical twins … is just one of the many many problems!!
That tagline being one, it is offensively nonsensical — is it trying to cram both second and third person into one sentence?
hahaha I know!
This is a clearly Christian movie and I believe it was funded by Christian money. In general, it keeps the proselytizing to a minimum – and Ray Liotta’s performance (unbelievably – like I said, it’s amazing the depth he is able to give his character) actually captures the visceral from-the-dirt comfort that Pentecostal tent-revival preachers gave their mostly poverty-struck congregations. Elvis came from that world. The film (sort of) gets that. Only because Liotta basically saves it single-handedly.
But yeah. That tagline is bad. I can’t imagine Elvis fans will approve of this movie, although I cannot speak for all of them. Maybe Christians will really like it? But I don’t think so because there’s a huge overlap in audience there – Elvis has an enormous and passionate Christian following (his gospel albums continue to go platinum, over and over and over again, to this day – his most successful albums ever) … so it seems like “using” Elvis so explicitly in the story could be a total misfire.
Very strange experience. The music! Ugh!
Ha ha, maybe as well my reading comprehension is the pits at the moment. But yeah, bizarreness appears to abound at all levels, from premise to execution. That poster is so lifeless. Even his Elvis pointing is lifeless. It is one of the deadest still photographs I have ever seen.
Right! Good point about the pointing – The gestures were not FULL and Elvis the real guy COMMITTED to everything.
Don’t show me that pointing and ask me to “pretend” it has the same power as Elvis the original. I refuse!
Don’t Half-Ass Your Goddamn Pointing! By The Identical‘s self-sacrifice we learn such crucial lessons.
Seriously. That’s the problem with Elvis impersonators and Elvis biopics – although John Carpenter’s film, starring Kurt Russell, is the best one so far. Kurt Russell was in an Elvis movie when he was a kid – he got to kick Elvis’ shin!! – and then in 1981, he portrayed Elvis – and he’s fantastic. He OWNS it.
But it really points up the issue: just how far “out there” Elvis was, how much he owned himself, his sexuality, his expression of it, his love of music … he held NOTHING back.
A movie like The Identical just reminds us, yet again, of how rare that guy was. How one-of-a-kind.
I’m mainly curious how any of the music passed muster. Much of the music appears to have been written by relatives of the director (same last name) – so maybe there was some confirmation bias going on there. “Man, this sounds like Elvis’ early stuff, doesn’t it?” “Yes!” “Yes!”
It makes me think they didn’t understand what Elvis was about at all.
Of course they didn’t understand what Elvis was about. Because they want the whole thing to be about GOD. When Elvis was all about SEX. He was a spiritual person and that was expressed in his music but the phenomenon of his career was based in unabashed lust. Ugh. I’m gonna watch this movie someday now. Darn it all.
Bren – that’s it exactly. Elvis was very religious and he was very sexual – and it is still a problem for many to reconcile those two things. This Elvis impersonator who plays the twins … he doesn’t have “that” at all – perhaps he was directed away from it. I have no idea what he is like in his real-life “act,” and I’m not into Elvis impersonators … but he doesn’t have that “thing” that Elvis had. The spark of personality.
And yes, I kind of need you to see it. I need to see your imitations of it. Please see it.
Sheil, read somewhere that the whole twin thing is supposed to be some kind of metaphor for Israel/Palestine??? Does this magically retroactively make it a great movie???