Which ever way you look at this, it is a black comedy and a parody of the genre of
"Badlands" and "In Cold Blood", lovers running amok in a desperate attempt to escape
the System.
Burt Reynolds as the Narrator sure has read his Capote, charting away Jack's
mindscape in an eerie matter of fact tone.
There is also the element of fandom going awry, like Mark Chapman and Lennon,
or Brutus and Julius Caesar.
And then there is the good family girl falling for the malignant wrongdoer, and
the gay friend, like the subtle gay subtext of Capote's "In Cold Blood".
The one-eyed officer Gingrass' character
is not thoroughly explained, but one might imagine
him having an
undisclosed personal motive for pursuing our intrepid trio across quite a
number of jurisdictional boundaries.
John Carroll Lynch is a monumental match for
the machinating slave driver of Colonel Parker.
Ron Livingston's Elvis is quite the opposite of your run of the mill glamour
impersonator, a worn out, pill popping, self destructive, has been ghost of
the King with his droopy eyelids and a five o'clock shadow.
Elvis and Jack both receive spiritual
guidance in the form of their passed away mothers,
the other supportive in times of trouble, the other urging to bump off the
corrupted King. Both men are on a mission, but obviously both of their intents
are not to be fulfilled.
The carnage just happens, from just a simple headshot when needed, to slitting
a throat in order
to carry out horrid vengeance. Nothing explicitely gory, though.
The final sortie comes out simply like the showdown at "High Noon". See for
yourselves, no "the Butler did it" here.
The epilogue leaves you guessing with a few possible outcomes.
"Shangri-la Suite" is the film's dreamy feminine title, whereas the
alternative title "Kill the King" is its violent masculine counterpart.
Background research for 1974 is well done, there are no obvious anachronisms and
even Elvis tour dates are historically correct.
Kudos for the contemporary and interesting soundtrack.
To sum it up, an entertaining little flick with not too many big Hollywood names.
