Film Preview: Elvis & Nixon (2016)

Page Revisions:

(January 10, 2016) Original

Release Date:

April 15, 2016

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The untold true story behind the meeting between the King of Rock ‘n Roll and President Nixon, resulting in this revealing, yet humorous moment immortalized in the most requested photograph in the National Archives.”

Poster Rating: C / C-

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Review: (#1) Was this the best the designers could come up with? Two not-quite-iconic items to represent Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon. They make sense when you think about them, but instant recognition for a film like this is far more important than weakly subversive recognition. (#2) Going with the big lights idea isn’t the most interesting, nor is the fuzzy visual of Elvis and Nixon.

Trailer Rating: C

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Review: Where to begin? It’s not funny, but is it supposed to be? The actors look almost nothing like their real life counterparts, but are they supposed to? The premise suggests Elvis wanted to work for the U.S. as a spy, did he really? All these questions may need to be answered by the film, but the first trailer doesn’t do an adequate job. The latter two questions are immaterial if the answer to the first is “yes, it’s supposed to be funny.” At that point, the audience will just go with the flow.

Oscar Prospects:

It’s a comedy, so I doubt it has much of a shot, but Oscar-nominated actors portraying icons of understandable and/or dubious merits might be enough to bring attention to the film.