The Identical

By now you know the story. The real Elvis had a twin brother who died at childbirth. This movie creates a hypothetical scenario wherein the twin lives but is adopted at birth.

One boy goes on to become essentially Elvis (a fictional version of him) and the other goes on to become a preacher's son with a penchant for black music, and for the music of his long lost brother whom he doesn't even realize he is related to.

The actors who played the couple who gave up one boy for adoption did a fine job of acting. I felt their pain. Ray Liotta was good too. A "personality" always plays themselves. An "actor" plays diverse roles. Liotta proved he could do that by veering way far from his "wise guy" persona.

Ashley Judd was added presumably for star power, because her role either didn't require much, or she chose not to do much with it.

As professional critics have noted, the lead actor (an Elvis impersonator in real life)lacked "heat." Ironically his character has wondered all his life why the other guy got all the fame and not him. Clearly the reason was because the other guy had confidence and generated sexual smoke.

Our main character is way too nice and respectable to be a boogie-woogie icon. More significantly the actor did not convey a sense of desperation in being trapped on the wrong path, nor frustration in missing his train so to speak. This guy is not a professional actor, so I forgive him.

The film needed a passionate lead. Liotta carried the torch, but our real lead dropped the ball. There was a scene where he turns down substantial money, but shows no signs of internal conflict about it. Even when his dad falls ill, we don't really see the agony we expect to see.

I don't know what the heck was going on with the pro-Israel thing or the Jewish message. OK, the real Elvis was partially Jewish genealogically, but how close to you have to follow his life in this script, given that it was not officially about him? Throwing in stuff about war in Israel and the preacher's support was simply gratuitous and awkward.

I'm o.k. with our lead not doing drugs or chasing women. Apparently the production company is Christian. That's fine, but I still needed to see more of a spiritual struggle between devotion to God and the darker forces represented by dance music, and a soulful battle by a dutiful son to please his father and himself simultaneously. This was not done successfully. But nice try. I enjoyed it anyways.

The most unique aspect of this film was it's original music score. They used new, original Elvis-sounding songs rather than the same old tired cliché Elvis tunes. Regardless of whether this was for copyright reasons, I enjoyed the music and appreciated its' freshness.

Great movie and an original idea for once. Of course, anyone who knows anything about Elvis will see through this film that the writer(s) had to be fans. From the obvious look and sound of the lead to little details such as a twin brother, Jewish symbols on jewelry and a trust-worthy TV host proclaiming that a misunderstood and controversial entertainer is really a good boy. This film is over-saturated with the king's likeness and life but BE WARNED: this movie is NOT about Elvis. I have read multiple reviews on multiple sites from Elvis fans that are "mortified" by this Elvis biopic... that it is not. The Elvis persona is merely the inspiration for how the filmmaker(s) chose to represent a superstar character and obviously chose to parallel the Presley family a little to build the character and you know what? That's okay. You also have a handful of folks who absolutely despise faith-based films and they make their way onto different sites as their Cheetoh-stained fingers dance across computer keyboards sending out their digital diatribes from their parents basements (or from a table at Starbucks) in the form of a review in order to make themselves feel triumphant in the fight against Christianity whether they have seen the film or not. Here is the deal, the film is fun, family-friendly and offers up an original idea (as far as movies are concerned) and is accompanied by an original and impressive soundtrack. It goes without saying that Ray Liotta delivers as usual and Seth Green, Ashley Judd, Blake Rayne, Joe Pantoliano, Brian Garaghty, Chris Mulkey and the rest bring stellar performances to the film. The cinematography is captivating and creative which is no easy feat considering the production team only had 35 days to tell a story that spans over decades. So, if you understand that this is NOT an Elvis movie and you are NOT terrified and offended if a biblical passage crosses your hypersensitive ear canals, then you may proceed and enjoy this heartwarming and entertaining tale.

Both my wife and I were amazed at the depth of the acting ability of Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd. This movie had both of us fully engaged from start to finish. As other reviewers have stated ignore the negative feedback as this movie delivered well beyond anything we anticipated. For those ladies out there keep some Kleenex close by as there are several scenes that will deliver some strong heart tugs. Guys watch and listen closely as history is told and even I was impressed with the directors delivery of years gone by.

This is a rock n roll history and life of a specific individual. It will reference another artist so sit back and enjoy the ride. This is one movie we will keep and share with our family. Kudos to the director and many actors who delivered a movie that fully engaged its audience. This is one of the few that delivers!

While this movie is clearly sparked from the fact that Elvis Aron Presley had an identical twin by the name of Jessie Garon, this movie falls short of being the musical equivalent. We have a southern couple who are blessed with twins but not the ability to care for them both during a time of depression. They seperate the twins by giving one of the babies to a preacher and his wife who are unable to have children. While the film focuses on the child being raised by the preacher, we see that the boys both grow up with a love of music and a call towards expressing their musical talents. The preacher's son struggles with his feelings of following in his father's footsteps or chasing his own dreams while unknowingly watching his identical twin rise to be a famous musician and actor.

The premise of this is amazing. What if Elvis' brother Jessie had lived? It would have been amazing but maybe the world just couldn't handle two talents of such magnitude. This isn't supposed to be about Elvis. It is about a character similar to Elvis and his situation. I liked this movie but the music fell short of my hopeful expectations. However, being an Elvis fan, how could anyone really compare? This movie is great for the story, not so much for the music. It has a number of great actors and while I'm not familiar with the lead, he did a decent job in his duel roles.

If you are interested in a movie that is based in semi-fiction but makes you think of Elvis, Check it out. It is well filmed and acted. It was worth the watch.

Sometimes it's refreshing to see a sweet movie that has some nice cinematography, good actors and no violence, for a change. Doesn't matter if it's faith based or not; it's relaxing and rewarding. We just have to lay our usual critical sense aside and enjoy the ride. This movie have not wasted money on excesses, it's all there on the screen, and for the budget it's really managed to capture the times nicely. This movie has a little bit of Elvis, the 50s, Jerry Lee Lewis, a bit of faith, nice cars, clothes and manners from times gone by. And, why not? It feels fun to see something that are sweet and in a way a little silly sometimes. That doesn't mean that it don't have real feelings and emotions, just that it's not pretending to be something it ain't. I saw this movie with an open mind, and I found the ride to be quite good.