X
- 2016
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 26 m
- 2016
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 26 m
Summary On a December morning in 1970, the King of Rock ’n Roll, Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) showed up on the lawn of the White House to request a meeting with the most powerful man in the world, President Nixon (Kevin Spacey). This is the untold true story behind this revealing, yet humorous moment in the Oval Office forever immortalized in...
Directed By: Liza Johnson
Written By: Joey Sagal, Hanala Sagal, Cary Elwes
- 2016
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 26 m
- 2016
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 26 m
Elvis & Nixon
59
6.4
Where to Watch
Summary On a December morning in 1970, the King of Rock ’n Roll, Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) showed up on the lawn of the White House to request a meeting with the most powerful man in the world, President Nixon (Kevin Spacey). This is the untold true story behind this revealing, yet humorous moment in the Oval Office forever immortalized in...
Directed By: Liza Johnson
Written By: Joey Sagal, Hanala Sagal, Cary Elwes
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 37 Critic Reviews
59
51% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
43% Mixed
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 37 Critic Reviews
59
51% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
43% Mixed
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
For the bulk of the ride, it’s a wickedly funny interpretation of the one of the great confounding moments in American pop culture and political history.
Johnson structures the movie early on as if it’s the out-dated kooky B-movie version of itself and even when the two heavyweights get down to it, she refuses to frame the film in lofty terms.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 47 User Ratings
6.4
60% Positive
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
30% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
11% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 47 User Ratings
6.4
60% Positive
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
30% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
11% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
This was one of the films I saw at the last New Year's Eve, and it was a pleasant surprise, considering that I was not particularly impressed with the synopsis I had read about it. The strong point of the film is the simple fact that it is based, obviously in a very distorted way, on a meeting that really took place between Elvis Presley, one of the most notable music artists ever, and the American President Richard Nixon, remembered by American history for the worst reasons, usually, given that he was one of the few presidents to step down to avoid being forced out from office.
The script is good, and adapts perfectly to a short film like this. In fact, almost everything happens only during one day of the singer's life, who, distressed by drug abuse by young people, decides to collaborate with the authorities as a plain clothed federal agent, secretly, in order to combat the abuses of youth who, for him, corrupted America. Nixon is not a kind of man who adheres to fashions or wants to be with singers, and will naturally pose several objections to the meeting, but he will be overcome by his daughter, who is an Elvis fan.
The cast is as small as the film, but it has a great performance by Kevin Spacey, an actor that I usually don't usually appreciate very much but who did an excellent job as the president. Michael Shannon is an actor I didn't know, I don't remember any of his films, but I think he did an interesting job in the role of Elvis, although I have my doubts about how strict he was in the way he portrayed the King. Obviously, the scenes with the White House advisers stank of comic satire and I don't believe they happened that way. Alex Pettyfer, Colin Hanks and Evan Peters play the secondary roles with dignity and commitment, the latter two with a strong comic streak.
Technically, it is a pleasant film, which entertains and flows smoothly until the end, with good doses of humor and very inspired and colorful dialogues. It has a pleasant cinematography and the costumes make good use of the clothes and fashion of that time. The sets, in turn, are not so visibly dated, but they fit perfectly. The soundtrack is very good and uses iconic songs like "Hold On, I'm Comming" by Sam and Dave, or "Suzy Q", by Creedence Clearwater Revival, functioning as a true potpourri of the best music of the early Seventies.
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This Film is humorous without being dumb, I liked it. Good screenplay, great attention to datails (costumes,props, haircuts... just google some real picture of the meeting) , funny characterization of Elvis. It made me search more info about this strange meeting.
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And so it does in the deft and delightful Elvis & Nixon, a short, quick and clever recreation of the how that came to pass and an imagined version of the conversation that could have taken place.
It ain't fact, but it is damn entertaining fiction.
Despite Mr. Shannon and Mr. Spacey, who appear to be having a fine time working off each other, the meeting is anticlimactic.
Perhaps this meeting of suspicious minds really was an unsung crux of modern American history, but Elvis & Nixon feels like a trifle about a trifle.
Told with the gravitas of a comedy sketch and the edginess of the funny pages, Elvis & Nixon at least has the good sense to appreciate that its namesakes were larger than life, each walled off from the world in their own way.
First of all I wanna say this is one of the most underrated/unwatched films of 2016. Kevin Spacey being cast as Richard Nixon was a perfect fit. Michael Shannon as Elvis was a odd choice but Michael is a great actor and he pulled it off. The movie was surprisingly very funny. The movie definitely benefits from having very strong performers and being very funny
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This movie is saved by the strength of Michael Shannon's performance. Kevin Spacey is good as well, but if it weren't for the deep sense of melancholy that surrounds Shannon's Elvis, I don't think the film would have had any weight to it at all.
There are a couple of chuckles to be had here and there based around the absurdity of the life that Elvis leads and the juxtaposition of him and Nixon. Certainly that has to be part of the reason why the picture of the two of them that inspired this movie proves so popular. The way Elvis disarms and interacts with Nixon made for an entertaining exchange. Neither man comes across as very relatable but we can understand why they might relate to one another.
The movie never really takes off, but in the end it does work to paint a sad and affecting portrait of Elvis. I haven't checked, but it felt as though it was adapted from a stage play. Whenever Michael Shannon was given the opportunity to just talk for a bit, the movie was at its strongest. I also thought the relationship with Jerry was well done in showing what it would be like to live alongside someone who constantly **** up all the oxygen in whatever room he's in but still makes you feel special for having been there.
It's a solid character study of Elvis but whenever the story veers away from Shannon, the film gets weaker.
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A biopic about the meeting between Elvis and Nixon. Quite a shallow film. A bit boring maybe. The story isn't that intresting, but the cast is good. (Spacey is Nixon, Shannon is Elvis. With also in the cast Colin Hanks and Evan Peters from American Horror Story). Not worth watching, but not bad.
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Production Company
Amazon Studios,
Autumn Productions,
Benaroya Pictures,
Elevated Films,
Holly Wiersma Productions
Release Date Apr 22, 2016
Duration 1 h 26 m
Rating R
Tagline On December 21st, 1970, two of America's greatest recording artists met for the first time.
Awards
Indiana Film Journalists Association, US
• 2 Nominations
Central Ohio Film Critics Association
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
