Elvis Meets Nixon

I found this movie late at night on the Bravo station in Canada. As an Elvis fan a thought why not stay up late and watch this movie. I thought it was going to be a crappy movie, but it turned out to be a good movie. I am not sure how real this movie is to the actual events, but it did give a good idea of how Elvis must have been feeling about himself. This movie is worth watching and I would sit through it again. It might just end up in my DVD collection if I can find it on DVD. Do not miss this movie if you are an Elvis or Nixon fan or just interested in a wacky event that took place at a difficult time in American history.

First off, don't expect anything super authentic. This is an imagining of what Elvis might have done on his way to meet Nixon.

The actor that plays Elvis doesn't do the best imitation that I've seen by any stretch of the imagination, but he captures the narcissism, and swagger of Presley very well. It's fun to watch him interact with normal people without his handlers around. I liked the scenes that stressed how far removed from the reality of the sixties that Elvis was, being that he hated the hippies, the Viet Nam protesters, and the Beatles (who stole his thunder).

A good laugh is also when you get to see Nixon's enemies list. Definitely give it a go if you see it aired, I've seen it twice, and it really has a charm to it.

It was perhaps THE most surreal and weird time of Elvis' life, a life marked by more than a few such times. How can an entire film revolve around the December 21, 1970 meeting of Elvis Presley with President Nixon? As it turns out, quite effectively. We're talking the moment in time when the path of history's most phenomenal entertainer intersected with that of the most notorious US President yet. Before Nixon's Vietnamization policy wound down a war that irrevocably fractured a nation. After a decade of civil-rights unrest influenced in no small way by the race-barrier bridge that was Elvis Presley. Before the revelations of Watergate and the end of Nixon's Imperial Presidency in August, 1974. Before Elvis' untimely death at 42, almost exactly three years later. The film raises an interesting point at its outset, in the parallels between the two men's lives and their professional fortunes. By late 1970, each was secure at the top after a stunning comeback, but neither was fulfilled or truly happy. Elvis, tired of being Elvis Presley and feeling as if he'd done it all, grew increasingly bored and restless. The triumphs and excitement of his first seasons in Vegas and his first touring schedules since 1957 gave way to interminable nights spent watching movies and breaking speed limits with his hangers-on, the Memphis Mafia. Nixon, despite working political wonders and demonstrating considerable prowess in foreign affairs, was the target of millions who protested the conflict in Vietnam and his growing personal paranoia did nothing to alleviate that weight.

This is the backdrop against which this Showtime movie was set. It's an entertaining film - one I can watch repeatedly - though it has some factual flaws. Elvis did not hate the Beatles. He may have objected to their comments regarding drug use, but the bottom line is that Elvis went to DC primarily to secure a narcotics-agent badge and title. The key ingredient missing in this film is explicit portrayal of Elvis' almost obsessive interest in law enforcement - he'd always wanted to be a policeman but he ended up at Sun records in 1954 and the rest is history. One ingredient in that interest was collecting law-enforcement badges, preferably those with real (not honorary) credentials and powers attached. Yes, although apolitical, he considered himself a patriotic American. But what he really wanted was that badge. Elvis was like a little kid in some respects. And Elvis knew how to get what he wanted out of anybody. He got that badge, but he first had to get to the President.

Yes, it was an argument over money with his father that precipitated his uncharacteristic flight from Graceland and, yes, he'd never traveled solo before. He really did have no idea how to buy things and no cash with which to do so. And, yes, he really did wear a caped purple velvet suit. Nobody knew where he'd gone to, and Graceland was in an uproar. For the only time in his adult life (such as it was), he'd broken free. He jetted to DC, then to LA, and then back to DC. Most of the script appears true to accounts from Jerry Schilling and Sonny West, the two real Memphis Mafians who were there, and from others to whom Elvis recounted the story. As unbelievable as it may seem, that includes the classic scene in the DC-ghetto doughnut shop as well as his trouble with carrying guns on to an airliner and his giving all his money to a soldier.

Other inaccuracies add to the storyline. For one, I don't think he wandered along Sunset Boulevard while he was in LA. Also, though he did shoot out a TV screen at least once when the hated Robert Goulet was on it (and, yes, he uttered the same quip used in the film: "that'll be enough of that s***"), he didn't do it during this time period. The fact is that the King was fairly restrained in killing TVs and didn't make a particular habit of it.

The film's very well done, with a lighthearted and ironic feel appropriate to the actual events. There're even two references that foreshadow Elvis' daughter's doomed marriage to Michael Jackson. The actors are all perfect in their roles. In particular, Rick Peters makes an excellent Elvis. He doesn't look entirely like him (well, in some shots he looks eerily like him) but he's closer than most and he's pulled off the best characterization since Kurt Russell's 1979 turn as Elvis. The voice, the mannerisms...it's all there. A little over-the-top and far more ‘oafish' and less cool than the real thing but, hey, there was only one Elvis. And this Elvis is basically likeable, too, even if he's not the self-aware revolutionary or rockin' rebel that some in the film (and some viewers) might wish him to be. There's innocence there, too. Bob Gunton also pulls off his role of Nixon with gusto, and he does a letter-perfect job. He has the mannerisms down, the voice, the look, and the paranoia. I was surprised to find that neither seems to have played their respective characters in any other properties - they're so good at it that it's hard to believe. Richard Beymer's also good as Haldeman, the foil to Nixon and the voice of relative sanity in the Oval Office. There's even a Forrest-Gumpish moment in which Nixon appears to get the idea of taping meetings from Elvis. Cutting back to contemporary interviews with people both real and imagined (though Wayne Newton was not, as he claimed, an exceptionally close friend to Elvis) is a nice touch and helps bridge scenes and put things in perspective.

The random insanity of it all (at least, apparently so...remember, Elvis had a Plan) is compelling and the story flows like a rollercoaster. You never saw Elvis like this. And he never went out by himself again.

And, no, I don't think Elvis ever really understood the extent of his impact on the world.

"Elvis Meets Nixon" is a touching and insightful look at a most unlikely meeting between two giant egos, both of which were not in touch with reality. Elvis comes out of hiding, venturing on his own, flying cross country and back in two days to fulfill his belief that he could somehow aid President Nixon in his fight on drugs. Sure enough a meeting is arranged, because Nixon see's Presley as his way to reconnect with American youth. This bizarre union is chronicled, almost the exact way it happened, and the story is not only intriguing, but highly entertaining as well. Sometimes trying the impossible is all you can do. Recommended. - MERK

I admit I'm a sucker for movies with the real people being portrayed, especially when Elvis is one of the main characters. This is a very funny movie that purports to be factual, and yet the liberties are many, but since it a comedy really, I can excuse that. It's in all the reviews I've read so far, the one inconsistency that no one caught (and I really being picky here but I feel I have to mention it) and that is that Elvis drinks a Coke when he preferred Pepsi. This would probably simply product placement and nothing more. I mentioned it because I am a dedicated Coke drinker. But anyway, the way the two principals act is meant to be exaggerated. Certainly, Elvis wasn't quite so cloddish, but knowing what I know about Nixon, I don't think they were too far off the mark there. The lead, Rick Peters, does a very good impersonation of the KING, and I'm also a sucker for good impersonations, doing a few of them myself. I just wish I were half as good at doing Elvis, but this guy looks more like him that I ever could even if he isn't a dead ringer for the King. Perhaps the coolest thing about this movie are the real people whose comments appear in different parts of the film. People like Dick Cavett, Wayne Newton and Tony Curtis. My only problem with the movie is Elvis swearing.so much. I don't believe he did this so.frequently. It's worth checking out.